Language landscapes of European language minorities: meaning, role, challenges

The article presents certain aspects of top-down and bottom-up language policy in the context of shaping the landscape of bilingual regions and their role in enhancing language prestige and breaking the dominance of formal culture. Also, the processes of politicization of ethnicity and the minorities’ action of constructing ethnic boundaries in order to take over public space for the use of minority language are discussed. The final part of the article refers to the relationship between the visual presence of minority languages within the cultural landscape, and the reversal of language shift