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‘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

Visual Communication, Vol. 4, No. 1, 39-63 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/1470357205048935


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