Situating Graffiti

*Siddha, wall-painting with graffiti, 7th–11th c. CE. From Bezeklik Caves, Turfan, China, collection of the State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg. Reproduced with permission.*

Research Field J

Over the past twenty years, the study of graffiti has evolved into a booming field attracting scholars of archaeology, epigraphy, social history, social anthropology, art history, and other backgrounds. The advent of robust digital technologies for recording, storage, and publishing, together with the ‘social turn’ in historical studies have sparked global interest in graffiti, written artefacts once regarded as mere marginalia of the field of Roman epigraphy. While the number of studies is growing that showcase the universality of the phenomenon of graffitiing in time and space, a truly comparative synthesis of the topic remains far from achieved.

With a particular focus on the Global South, the Research Field ‘Graffiti’ works towards formulating a general framework for the study of graffiti as a global phenomenon, exploring its cultural variables and constants, and honing methodological principles to set up a basis for comparative research enhancing our understanding of the human propensity to leave a written trace wherever they set their foot.

Spokesperson: Ondrej Skrabal