This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Lynn, N. Articles by Lea, S. J. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

‘Racist’ graffiti: text, context and social comment

University of Plymouth, UK, nlynn{at}plymouth.ac.uk

Susan J. Lea

University of Plymouth, UK, slea{at}plymouth.ac.uk

The research project, upon which this article is based, conceptualizes the act of graffiti in Bakhtinian terms as a ‘heteroglot’ tangible ‘utterance’: one that is uniquely visual, lexical, and time, place and space specific. The project set out to locate and examine ‘racist’ graffiti; specifically graffiti motivated or prompted by the presence of refugees or ‘asylum seekers’. Despite media reports suggesting that such graffiti was widespread, it proved almost impossible to find. Drawing upon a case study carried out in Sighthill Glasgow, the project was re-focused in order to explain the paucity of such graffiti. In so doing, alternate and clandestine forms of ‘racist’ graffiti became apparent. Inextricably linked to a ‘local code’ known and understood by residents, ‘asylum seekers’ and the local authority — who have responsibility for (re)defining and removing ‘racist’ graffiti — the social, ideological and institutional implications raised are particularly disturbing.

Key Words: asylum seekers • graffiti • heteroglossia • racism • utterance • visual discourse

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?