"Lai ietu uz kapiem, ir jābūt jēgpilnam mērķim”: kapsētu lingvistiskā ainava un tās pedagoģiskais potenciāls valodas apguvē

The article aims to (1) examine cemetery texts and the linguistic landscape of cemeteries in the context of linguistic landscape studies, (2) describe the linguistic landscapes of two regional cemeteries in Latvia (one in Kurzeme, in Latvia’s southwest, the second is in Latgale, in Latvia’s southeast), and (3) discuss the potential pedagogical benefits of linguistic landscapes of cemeteries in language-learning in high school. Overviews of the development of linguistic landscape research show that the linguistic landscape of cemeteries has been undeservedly understudied (e.g., Gorter & Cenoz, 2022). There are only a few publications in English on linguistic landscapes in cemeteries (e.g., Guilat & Waksman, 2014; Vajta, 2020). In Latvia, Karīna Krieviņa is currently working on a dissertation on the linguistic landscapes of cemeteries in southwestern Latvia. The main differences that separate the linguistic landscape of a cemetery from the linguistic landscape of a place of human habitation are the following: 1) the main type of text is an epitaph with formal and informal information about the deceased person’s life, relationships with colleagues, family and friends, poetic words of farewell, good wishes, alongside visual information (photos, drawings, symbols), 2) the main functions of these texts are to capture information about the deceased person, to honor the deceased, and to keep even minimal memories of the deceased alive, 3) research is conducted mainly via a diachronic approach, because the placement of epitaphs has taken place gradually since the establishment of cemeteries until today, 4) the use of languages is less regulated or not regulated at all.