Vernacular Landscape and Jordan

In grad school, I was introduced to something called the “vernacular landscape”. The great J.B. Jackson kind of coined the term in regards to landscape back in the mid-late 20th Century, and his book 1984 suggested the term meant a variety of things related to landscape. For example, a vernacular landscape might be irrational and/or disordered, or have a lack of a political structure/organization/space, or be a place that retains common customs, or focus on the common folk, or be ephemeral and mobile. For example, something like this:

Yes, that’s Hello Kitty in a hijab! I haven’t seen this in other Arab countries I’ve visited, only in Jordan. And I’ve searched. Hard. Because I adore Hello Kitty. Well, non-pink Hello Kitty.

In later times, scholars sometimes took “vernacular landscape” to mean the “ordinary” or “every day” landscape that was set apart from the norm – the hustle and bustle of big cities of the time – such as suburbs, trailer parks, or resorts. The concept seeped into geography, and studies of Midwestern Barns, Southwestern Pueblos, and suburban strip malls abounded for a time in the discipline.

The main point I took from studying Jackson’s definition is that anything not fitting the conventional molds set-up by a Dominant Society represents a vernacular landscape. Theme parks, TV settings, creative/clever/odd signage and products, strange architectural juxtapositions – all are examples of vernacular landscape. Of course, this may vary from culture to culture and country to country, because convention is dynamic.

So, for years now, I have been cataloging different aspects of vernacular landscape: clever plays on words, interesting advertising, different-looking edifices, or oddly worded/placed signs, for example. I have numerous examples from countries all over the world, but wanted to share with you some Jordanian vernacular landscapes.

Keep in mind as you scroll through these, that they are not meant to offend or criticize or belittle the Kingdom. Indeed, I have many more examples from around the world, including my hometowns. Instead, my point is to showcase Jordanian sense of place, as seen from various vernacular landscape entities. Ready?

First up, the ubiquitously-produced Coca-Cola. The neat thing about Coke in Arabic script lies in the script: if you read it from the top-down, it phonetically says, “co-kuh co-luh” in Arabic.

“No Girls” (look on the passenger door). I’ve seen several cars sporting this sticker, as if they were the Little Rascals building their clubhouse. I can’t seem to find the origin of it here, but the vehicles that have it tend to be driven by guys who play loud music and dress like Justin Bieber (they call them Shebab here).

50% off is a good sale. But look closer and you’ll see that sale is actually “From 0% to 50% off”. I don’t consider 0% a sale, but this concept adorns many signs in malls. And upcoming blog will focus on Malls of Amman, since I find them very fascinating...

Very vernacular to the Arabian Desert, and something you probably won’t find in too many places around the World, is the "camel crossing" sign. This one is along the Wadi Araba, and a scant few km up the road, we indeed saw a herd of camels grazing on the sparse vegetation. And then another herd, and another, and still another…they seemed to be around every corner. Like my mother-in-law said: “they probably think we’re weird getting out to take pictures of their camels, just like we think people are weird when they stop to take pictures of deer…”

Stunning dresses, beautiful gowns, great tailoring, and free parking set apart this “Decent Boutique” from others. I don’t know why I think a name like that is funny, but I do.

And then there are the obvious knock-off places. These types of places are found in every country. This particular “Burger King” is located in one of the neighborhoods populated by a lot of expats, Weibdah.

In Petra, they have a unique kind of service personnel. The “Touris Police”. I thought the “t” had been merely scraped-off by some smart aleck. But upon closer inspection, nope. That’s the way the sign was made. I’ve seen transliterations of English like this everywhere in the World. Menus often host the grandest examples, so when I find a non-menu item, I like to document it.

A roadside “Smoking Area”. This speaks vernacular landscape to me because 1) smart aleck vandals have made it a “Soking Area” – which is kind of funny if you think about it, and 2) it’s a designated OUTDOOR smoking area. Why would you make an enclosed area for smokers outside?

This warning sign at a petrol station reminds the driver of some important safety procedures when at the pump. “No Naked Flames”, “No Smoking” (that’s what the Smoking Area is for, I guess?), and “Turn off all Portable Battery Opareted Devices…” I don’t know about you, but when I hear “naked flames”, my mind conjures-up some weird stuff. And I can’t for the life of me find out what the word “opareted” means...An example of how things are not necessarily lost in translation, but more like muddled in translation.

These are the bathroom gender signs at Qasr Azraq in the Eastern Desert. Though there aren’t any out there, these reminded me of petroglyphs I’ve seen in the US Southwest. The hair and the shirt lengths made me chuckle...

I’ll end this post “Withe Cardamon” sign at a shop in Petra. A clever way to combine the words with and the, I think. Instead of taking up extra letters, just drop the extra “th”. Smart. I don’t know if it’ll catch on, but…

So that’s a romp through some of Jordan’s vernacular landscape. While it’s usually easier to spot in a foreign area – most likely because you’re seeing everything anew and for the first time – keep your eyes open in your own locale for examples, and you’ll be surprised how many there are. Vernacular landscapes are ubiquitous, examples can be found the world over, and often right in your own neighborhood.