TY - JOUR
T1 - “The Amazingly Fabulous Tuk tuk Race”: mobility and carnival praxis in the semiotic landscape of Phnom Penh Pride
AU - Rowlett, Benedict J. L.
AU - Go, Christian
N1 - Publisher copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
PY - 2024/5/26
Y1 - 2024/5/26
N2 - In this semiotic landscape study we examine the 2019 pride celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a focus on its main event, the “Amazingly Fabulous Tuk Tuk Race.” This event emphasizes mobility vis-à-vis select participants who race in decorated tuk tuks, the city's iconic everyday mode of transport, across the city to complete a scavenger hunt. The study analyzes these tuk tuks as forms of mobile signs that temporarily queer the streets of Phnom Penh, conveying the convergence of international discourses relating to LGBTQ+ sexual identity politics as well as locally salient discourses (e.g. education and development, tourism and commerce) that are embedded in the pride event. The study proposes that these mobile signs constitute a form of carnival praxis, giving us critical insight into forms of creative and tactical public engagement with queer visibility in this globally southern context.
AB - In this semiotic landscape study we examine the 2019 pride celebrations in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with a focus on its main event, the “Amazingly Fabulous Tuk Tuk Race.” This event emphasizes mobility vis-à-vis select participants who race in decorated tuk tuks, the city's iconic everyday mode of transport, across the city to complete a scavenger hunt. The study analyzes these tuk tuks as forms of mobile signs that temporarily queer the streets of Phnom Penh, conveying the convergence of international discourses relating to LGBTQ+ sexual identity politics as well as locally salient discourses (e.g. education and development, tourism and commerce) that are embedded in the pride event. The study proposes that these mobile signs constitute a form of carnival praxis, giving us critical insight into forms of creative and tactical public engagement with queer visibility in this globally southern context.
KW - Cambodia
KW - LGBTQ+ pride
KW - carnival praxis
KW - semiotic landscape
UR - https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/routledg/csos/2024/00000034/00000003/art00005
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141076593&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/10350330.2022.2128738
DO - 10.1080/10350330.2022.2128738
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1035-0330
VL - 34
SP - 430
EP - 448
JO - Social Semiotics
JF - Social Semiotics
IS - 3
ER -