Abstract

The word ‘icon’ usually refers to a symbol, a famous person admired by all, or a religious image used for worship. Twentieth and twenty-first century icons are also sacred images of secular societies that help construct collective identities and delineate the zeitgeist. Places can also be considered icons if looked through social semiotic lenses. Through Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) and O’Toole’s (1990; 1994; 2004) re-conceptualisations of Halliday’s Systemic Functional Linguistics (1994) and the concept of Bonding Icons (Stenglin 2008a; 2008b; 2012), this paper investigates the ways in which the New York City DragCon 2019 became a rallying and bonding place that both abstractly, through its website, and concretely, through the actual event, gave people a sense of belonging. The main goal of the study is to underline the extent to which the rallying and bonding is money-driven and to highlight the ties between consumerism and the concept of ‘icons selling icons’.

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