The Hollywood sign: diffuse recontextualization of a global emblem

The HOLLYWOOD sign in Los Angeles is the world’s most famous language object, a global emblem of high status and glamor. More than recognition, however, this fame is witnessed in the sign’s myriad recontextualizations around the world. Beginning with the history that saw its valorization as a global emblem and continuing with a case study in Sweden, this paper shows that HOLLYWOOD emanates symbolic value through a set of enregistered language features: size, emplacement, alignment, typeface, and color are cited in bids to gain recognition and status by participating in an ideology of global cosmopolitanism. Here, a process of diffuse recontextualization is observed, in which the circulation and citation of language features is not overt but the source of emanation is still tangible, revealing HOLLYWOOD as the source of a global linguistic-semiotic repertoire. Yet access to this repertoire is not evenly distributed: as this case suggests, the circulation of language objects and features is mediated by political economy, and in this case often privileges power.