LA SÉMIOTIQUE URBAINE DE LA MECQUE : ENTRE IDENTITÉ MUSULMANE ET UNIVERSELLE

This research is situated within the field of urban semiotics, centring on the semiotics of constructed environment of the holy city of Mecca. Its focus is specifically on how architectural modernisation affects the spiritual aspect of the sacred sites within the holy city. She questions the impact of architectural modernisation on the spiritual dimension of the sacred places of Mecca. Through a structural and pragmatic analysis of the corpus comprising urban symbols, we reveal the présence of two opposing semiotic spheres, one foreign and the other indigenous, thus leading to ambiguities in meaning among the pilgrims. The research calls into question the superimposition of contradictory semiospheres in Mecca and calls for the separation of Western urban symbols from urban symbols belonging to the Arab-Muslim identity.