#ling3009

These signs all indicate an English, Afrikaans translation which is interesting because the poster says “established 2002″. By this time South Africa already had 11 official languages so the fact that the business focuses on English and Afrikaans alone is interesting especially because it is on Juta street where one would think Afrikaans is not a primary language. One would think other Bantu languages would be more prevalent.

The text does not in any way indicate what is sold within the shop, nor does it seek to invite the viewer into the shop, it is simply placed there as a statement about the feminist leanings of the individuals who control the space. This makes the text a form of soft advertising as it does not encourage individuals entering the shop, but might serve to pique the interest of passersby, causing them to choose to enter of their own accord.

It has been noted that the use of stickers placed on signs, is a prominent form of vandalism in this area. This shows that the people occupying this space are not necessarily respectful towards official signs. 

This photo was taken of a sushi restaurant on Juta Street. The wall and window of the restaurant form part of the sign, together with the neon "sushi" sign that lights up at night. The wall of the restaurant has a fish painted on it in a street art style. This fits in with the prominence of graffiti in Juta Street, however it is done in a professional and artistic manner. The window of the shop is below the neon sign. This lead to the interpretation of the neon "sushi" sign as the ideal, because people read the word sushi and think about their ideal serving of sushi. The window functions as the real, because the audience can look directly into the restaurant. The real can be seen as an empty table, or if someone is having a meal, the actual sushi can be viewed through the window and the audience can see exactly what they could get inside. The window also serves as an interactive advertisement. People walking past may see others inside eating sushi and decide to go in. Depending on who is seated at the table, the people in the "advert" may actively interact with the people looking at them or they may ignore the audience and focus on one another and their meal.

These photos were taken of two mobile signs on Juta Street. Both signs are directive and guide the audience to the doors of shops whose entrances are partially concealed. The signs are taken off the street and moved inside once the shops close for the day. Both signs are made of stainless steel and have been professionally made and painted. There has been money invested in the signs. This highlights the difficulties in clearly distinguishing between top-down and bottom-up signs, because although the signs have not been created by the government, they are more official than many of the paper signs and advertisements seen on Juta Street.

These are more examples of graffiti written on the wall labelled "exhibition for those who can relate". Racial inequalities are still hugely prominent in South Africa, despite the fact that the country has been ruled democratically by the ANC for over 20 years. This wall takes on an expressive function as it has been used as a space to share feelings and emotions about race. The message "FUCK WHITE GIRLS" is written in all caps on the wall and can be interpreted as holding anger or resentment towards white females. Underneath this is the word "literally" in a different handwriting, suggesting that it may have been added by a different individual to resist the message of anger. This sends a message that white women are desirable. In South Africa white bodies have often been seen as the ideal, because of the history of apartheid and the privileges white people were afforded under this regime. Alternatively, the original message can be read in a sexual manner, and the added word "literally" as agreeing with rather than resisting this message. Whichever way you read it, this graffiti points to the fact that despite the end of apartheid, there is still a discrepancy in the way black and white bodies are viewed and desired. Another racial message on the wall is "Story of my life I was black I'm still black". This has reference to the difficulties black individuals still face because of apartheid. It is impossible to escape being black, and thus it is impossible to escape the struggles that come with being previously disadvantaged. Black individuals still face inequality because of the political structure of the past and this message points to the emotions of frustration and anger that come with accepting this struggle. It is interesting that the messages on this wall are written in English, when the authors are most likely black individuals who do not speak English as a first or even second language. However, English is the dominant language in official signs on Juta Street, and the street is in close proximity to Wits university, where English is the language of instruction. Thus the authors of the graffiti may have been influenced by the language in their environment rather than their home languages.

This is a photograph taken on Bree street in Newtown, and in this photograph we can see that the Bree street road sign has been crossed out. We know that the sign has been crossed out by the state as there is a red line going through it whereas if it was spray painted over, we would know that it was crossed out by an individual. The red line through the street name indicates a street name change and because it has been crossed out by the state, it is a top-down to bottom-up sign. The reason why it starts off as a top-down sign is because it is a formal sign printed by the state and it is informational as it tells us the name of the street and by crossing it out, it therefore turns into a bottom-up sign as it loses all value and provides no necessary information. In September 2015 a decision was made by the state to change various street names in Newtown including Bree street, and the name was changed to Lilian Ngoyi street. Lilian Ngoyi was a South African anti-apartheid activist, the first women elected to the executive committee of the ANC and also helped launch the Federation of South African Women. Therefore because of her achievements, the state decided to change Bree street to Lilian Ngoyi street.

On the reverse side of the stop sign as seen above are two informal advertisements for herbal remedies, advertising individuals who perform abortions and weight-loss: these informal “bottom-up” advertisements are generally directed towards the individuals of traditional African cultures where herbal medicine is largely accepted and is assumed to be effective. These signs were placed not by the government or any officially recognised abortion clinic, meaning that the clinic or individual performing these “medical” procedures is likely not a recognised medical professional.