The semiotics of multilingual desire in Singapore and Hong Kong’s elite foodscapes

Abstract

This paper considers a form of marketing strategy among upmarket food and beverage outlets involving the use of Chinese text in their decor in Singapore and Hong Kong, two cities where English is widely considered the language of social mobility. In asking ‘why Chinese?’, we suggest that the indexical values of Chinese are rescaled in these outlets for an emergent group of consumers known as “cultural omnivores” who express eliteness precisely by appearing to be anti-snobbish. Through a process of indexical selectivity, the use of vernacular languages taps into this cultural disposition by feeding their multilingual desires. The ambivalent indexicality of language, more specifically, Chinese in our contexts allows for alternative readings of prestige value by a privileged group of consumers.