Linguistic and extra-linguistic features in the brand and package of Sundanese local food and beverage products as a means to support cultural tourism in Garut, West Java, Indonesia

Abstract

The details presented in the package of local products can be analyzed through multimodal discourse research which employs many kinds of eloquent, vivid but sometimes complicated ways, ranging from linguistic (syntax and semantics) to extra-linguistic features (pictures, shapes and colors), and they are closely related to the reader’s perception and also knowledge concerning what are presented in the package, verbally or visually. This article discusses some of the issues concerning the linguistic and extra-linguistic elements in the packages of Sundanese traditional food and beverages in Garut Regency, West Java. Besides, it also tries to explore the implication of the illustration in the product’s branding and packaging on Sundanese cultural tourism promotion, in the sense that there must be attempts to point out the added values of the products with their new shape or character but still maintain the originality viewed from Sundanese cultural perspective. Therefore, this study belongs to the interdisciplinary ones and is conducted on the basis of multimodal discourse research where semiotics also plays a significant role. The method applied in this research is descriptive qualitative. The aims of this study among other things are, firstly, to elaborate the relationship between the language use and the branding and packaging of local food products with some cultural aspects of the community, and secondly, to investigate the role of the local products in fostering tourism activities in the destination.