Tagging in Algeria

Graffiti as Aesthetic Claim and Protest

Bibliographic Data

ID3978714
AuthorsKarim Ouaras (0000-0002-2965-1638, Université Abdelhamid Ibn Badis, Mostaganem, Algeria, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume23
Issue1-2
Pages173-190
Publication date2018-03-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of North African Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1362-9387 • E-ISSN: 1743-9345
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13629387.2018.1400771
OpenAlexW2767511645
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited21

This paper examines some of the connections between street art, discourse, knowledge, power, and public space in Algiers. Graffiti writings are approached here as a tool of protest used by voiceless graffiti writers to display and express their critical opinions towards political authorities and civil society alike. This research relies on graffiti material and qualitative interviews with graffiti writers and passers-by to analyse how graffiti functions in public space. Findings reveal that graffiti writers use street art as a powerful means of communication that enables them to exert agency in and improve public space, and as an act of protest against status quo and socio-political norms

Aesthetics · Agency (philosophy · Art · Graffiti · Linguistics · Media studies · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public space · Social science · Sociology · Status quo · Visual arts · Engineering · Law · Public Spaces through Art · Urban and sociocultural dynamics

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