Blogging About the “Aura”

 

        Walter Benjamin, notes that even the most perfect reproduction is lacking one element of the authentic version: it’s presence in time and space, its unique existence in the place it happens to be (1936:2) He further argues that reproductions do not present the same sense of authenticity of the original, the same deep historical roots and authority. A reproduction of an authentic work does not foster the same original aura of the piece, rather the aura decays in the presence of a new contexts and the original intention is lost. Both  Jacqueline Ferland and Jeff Hart’s blog draw on this concept of the diminished aura in their analysis of the reproduction of the "Jai Ho" song by A.R. Rahman as seen in the end credits of “Slumdog Millionaire” by the Pussycat Dolls’ version “Jai Ho (You are my destiny)”. While both highlight that the loss of aura is attributable to the cultural differences in presentation, they differ in their assertion of exactly at what points and what examples result in the decay of this aura. Further each takes a unique critical position which foregrounds their optimism and view of reproductions of media on the whole.

            Jacqueline's blogs about the loss of aura due to cultural differences in terms of differing conceptions of sexuality. She notes that while the two versions hold some “structural” similarities the cultural background of each is so dichotomized that no aura of the authentic work can be retained. The original Jai Ho video, she argues, celebrates and praises life and love’s triumph over adversity, where sexuality is “…commonly apparent yet very subtle through movement and lyrics”. She contrasts the subtle sexuality, characteristics of Indian culture, to the more overt hyper sexualized American pop culture arena. She argues that the newly reproduced work lacks the same Indian cultural values and ideals and instead favors obtuse American sexuality, which works to only “imprint” the ideas of the original work in the viewers mind, but ultimately fails to communicate the original spirit and meaning of the authentic Jai Ho video, and may actually be seen as borderline offensive.

            Jeff Hart also argues that the different cultural arena of the reproduction aids in diminishing the aura, however he draws on the more structural, contextual and material aspects that are unique to American culture to make his point. First Jeff recognizes that the actual shift in physical geographic locality from India itself to the mock subway and market most likely built in a warehouse in LA, has a notable affect in reducing the subject position and context. Further, he argues that the insertion of consumer products, such as the Nokia phone; is not only distracting but reveals a different set of underlying cultural values driving the videos creation.  Jeff also notes that structurally the each individual video segment is longe, which allows for the viewer to more fully absorb what it going on and engage more with the visual component of the video than the audio.

            Although Jeff, like Jacqueline, recognizes the cultural differences that facilitate a different form of reproduction he is perhaps less critical of the newly reproduced work and chooses to end his blog post by valuing the creativity and personal expression that comes with such reproduction, even if the aura is diminished. Both bloggers are successful in picking apart the Pussycat Dolls Jai Ho video and revealing that the messages conveyed are inherently different than the original production and are informed by the new cultural arena where the video was produced.

Benjamin, Walter.

1936 The Work of Art in the Mechanical Age of Reproduction. Marxist Literary Criticism.

Summer with Monika: Sexual exploitation or women's liberation?

Feminist film theory puts the politics of representation in the front and center of film analysis, pushing our understanding of how groups are represented in media and forcing us to consider how it is that we make sense of these representations (Gray 2010:71). The Swedish film, Summer with Monika (1953), directed by Ingar Bergman portrays a story of the trials and tribulations of young love, the desire for excitement and freedom, and the beauty of the Baltic region. The film sparked controversy at time of release due to its frank depiction of nudity and sexuality with regards to the main female protagonist. Further the film reveals a controversial representation of the female role, one that I argue is a celebration of female power and rebellion. While others may feel this sexualization of the main protagonist only works to perpetuate the exploitation of women in the film, her confidence and strong willed character type speaks otherwise.

The film's story begins in the bleak working class area of Stockholm. Harry and Monika are both in dead end jobs when they meet, Monika works in a stock warehouse, a nice-looking girl of about 18-years-old. She is constantly besieged and harassed by other boys and an ex boyfriend. Harry works at a crockery warehouse, packing all kind of dishes and glasses, at first he seems content with his job, but upon meeting Monika, his attitude changes and he is fired. When Monika is having a few domestic problems with her father, who always arrives drunk to the house, Harry steals his father's boat, and he and Monika spend an idyllic summer in the Stockholm archipelago. There, Harry and Monika spend some joyful days together making love and frolicking on the beaches, until food begins to run out. The adventure ends up as a sad experience, without a job, money and having to steal some food to survive. Harry and Monika decide to return to the city, to get married and start from the bottom. It is clear that Monika is pregnant, and while Harry accepts responsibility for the child Monika is unsatisfied with her role as homemaker. She again yearns for excitement and adventure, which finally leads her astray, and she leaves Harry and her child behind.

In the traditional exhibitionist film role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to fulfill a role in the film catering to mens desires. They also, in the traditionalist sense, play a passive, victimized role, constantly in need of a strong willed, male savior. Often women are at the same time innocent and naïve while paradoxically portrayed as sexualized objects for male dominance and control. While Monika is definitely fulfilling a role as sexualized deviant, she could hardly be seen as a victim. She is the spark plug, pushing Harry to quit his job, spend an exciting summer with her, and in the end leaving him to pursue her own interests once again. Further, the traditionalist subordination of women, and portrayed innocence is completely relegated in the role in favor of a strong woman whose sexuality is, I would argue, celebrated in the film. Although the integration of her nudity in the film may have been originally intended to draw in a larger audience and create controversy, her nudity was not one that I found offensive or demeaning. Rather, she appeared comfortable and confident with her body, walking poignantly across the screen, fully nude to take a dip in the warm water of the Baltic Sea. Although I do not advocate for Monika’s harsh treatment of Harry, nor abandonment of her young child, she is notable in representing an unconventional kind of female, one that displays female strength and aggression not usually presented in film, especially during the 1950’s. Her stubborn and selfish attitude is an unfavorable character flaw recognized by the audience, however the actions she takes to move away from the harassment and domination in the beginning of the film and her constant emphasis on the importance of establishing her own freewill presents a representation of the female that to the audience is more empowering than exploitative.


Citations:


Gray, Gordon.
2010 Film Theory in Cinema: A Visual Anthropology. Oxford, UK: Oxford International Publishers, Ltd.


Ingar, Bergman
1956. Summer in Monika. AB Svensk Filmindustri.

Radio Up North

Radio in many rural aboriginal areas has the capacity to simultaneously create communities whilst also reflecting them. It is because of its interactive qualities, the ability to both inform and connect, that radio may facilitate the creation of a unified sense of community and self-empowerment. This media form is reflexive, constantly evolving and changing in terms of the unstable cultural identities of the communities it is embedded within. Indigenous communities, I would argue, are unique that they are constantly working to affirm a sense of identity due to their turbulent colonial past, while also dealing with current social and economic issues. This is indeed evident in the indigenous communities of Northern Australia, as well as in Fort McPherson in Northern Canada, each community has its own cultural nuances and struggles, however they express a common interest in wanting to instill a sense of cohesion and identity despite the obstacles they face. Radio for them has becomes a means to connect, reflect and create.

In Northern Australia radio acts to celebrate kinship connections, facilitating dialogue and interactions among communities in disparate areas of Northern Australia. Here members of the aboriginal community actively engage with the media type by calling in, requesting songs for family and sending messages to loved ones, many of whom are incarcerated. Here media acts as a means to cope with the complexities of modern post colonial Australia, and negate the fissure points that have arisen in families due to their vast geographical distances. Radio in northern Australia is as much about spinning records as “linking up” and looking after kin (Fisher 2009:288). Here radio reflects the community’s desire to emphasize the importance of kinship connections something that has deep historical cultural relevance, it is used in a modern way to address the disjuncture and isolation that many aborigines may feel. However it also creates a community of listeners a community of individuals concerned about their kin who want to reach them in a meaningful and sentimental way. It is unique in the way that country music, and aborigines music is mixed with the radio dialogue itself. Further, on certain programs the radio has more of a representational aims, and works to foreground the folly racist discourse and to counter “mainstream” representation of Indigenous communities (Fisher 2009: 289). Here radio is both celebrating the deep seated cultural importance of kinship connections, while kinship itself comes to typify the kinds of immediacy, intimacy and connection that radio enables (Fisher 2009: 282). It emphasizes kinship and becomes a cultural resource for the normative evaluation of Aboriginal personhood and identity.

In Northern Canada in Fort McPherson, a small hamlet with population of approximately 900, more than 80 per cent of the population is of Gwich'in aboriginal descent. In Dennis Allens documentary of the CBQM radio station he too reveals that this community deals with their own unique issues, such as being a relatively isolated community with little sun, having very cold winters, and they are also struggling to keep aspects of their culture alive. Here radio allows for the perpetuation of historical cultural ideals such as traditional language, reverence for the elderly, and story telling session. For instance DJ Neil Collins provides weather reports and stories to elders in their native tongue.  Further, the radio also acts as a means to create a community of listeners, concerned about their community as reflected through the police news reports and call ins. There are also new activities facilitated through the media form such as bingo and religious readings. 
On one hand both of the radio stations in these northern communities acts to relfects ideals and values back to the people themselves such as respecting elders, and using their own unique ingenious dialects. However, this media form is also novel in the sense that it creates a new sense of a community, one that works reflexively to deal with complexities of establishing identity, maintaining cohesion and advocacy.

Allen, Dennis
2010 CBQM National Film Board of Canada

Fisher, Daniel

2009 Mediating Kinship: Country, Family, and Radio in Northern Australia.

Cultural Anthropology 24(2): 280-312.

What would Annie Say?: An analysis of the reuses of “Sweet Dreams (Are made of this)”

When “Sweet Dreams (Are made of this)” was first released in 1983 by pop music duo Eurythmetics, it became one of their biggest hit singles propelling the group into stardom, and commercial success. The music video presents Lennox in a striking androgynous visual image, with close-cropped, orange-colored hair, and attired in a man's suit brandishing a cane, immediately making her a household name and establishing her personal style and  a message of the strength of women. Since then the tune as well as the astounding music video has been reused in various forms and by various individuals in a number of media arenas. Some are a nod to the groundbreaking style, as well as the sound of the epic video and music, while others deviate far from the original media form and present the song in a such a far fetched and controversial manner that you can’t help but wonder, what were they thinking? 
Arguably the most notable and controversial reuse of the song was accomplished by Marilyn Manson with the release of the band’s cover version and accompanying music video on his album “Smells like Children". Although the lyrics of the song are retained, the manner in which he sings and accompanying heavy metal instrumentals gives the song a whole new sinister and dark mood. Further, Manson added some extra lines to the lyrics that are not present in the Eurythmics version: "I wanna use you and abuse you/I wanna know what's inside you." and "I'm gonna use you and abuse you/I'm gonna know what's inside you”. His lyrical reuse in itself may not be so obviously controversial, but if the song won’t get to you, the music video most likely will. The music video stars the main lead singer, Marilyn Manson, a male recording artist known for his long black hair, dark stained lips, one eyed white contact and dominatrix cross-dressing. His ambiguous gender is perhaps a parallel to the androgynous style portrayed by Annie Lennox in the 80’s. However, parallels are considerably diminished when watching him in the music video; whether riding a hog covered in tar, or hiding in a fireplace wearing only a blue tutu, or scarring his abdomen with his nails, it is hard to find an aspect of the video that wouldn’t be considered frightening or bizarre to most. Manson’s contentious music video is accomplished by not simply completely deviating away from the original theme of the video and song, but its controversy is confounded by his bizarre and frightening supply of visual imagery and scenarios that culturally individuals tend to avoid and are uncomfortable with.

The original song from the 1980’s was also reused in a jazz dance piece on the popular television show, So You Think You Can Dance as preformed by Sabra Johnson and Neil Haskell. The dancers, clad in smart and modern business wear engage in a mock fight dance sequence over a large table in the center of the stage. The dance was clearly inspired by Lennox’s style and sharp dance moves in the music video, however is creative in choreography. Unlike Manson’s performance, the dancers don’t engage in any actions or movements that may be deemed culturally taboo or inappropriate. Rather the original media form is re-purposed in a new context of use that works to pay homage to the strong beats of the song, entertain, and demonstrate the dancers strength. Here the purpose is not to play with our fears or explore the realm of the taboo, but rather it is to celebrate a classic hit in a marketable and entertaining manner. Whether contentious or not, each reuse constitutes a remediation a transfer of content from one format to another making new media, and sometimes new controversy. 

 Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) Original Music Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeMFqkcPYcg
Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) Marilyn Manson Reuse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6VojYGrnpg
Jazz Dance SYTYCD reusing the Original Annie Lennox song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFH1moy62VQ

Blog Posting #3: The Global and the Local: An analysis of the Jai Ho Music Video

Arjun Appudrai’s work focuses on the intersection of globalization and the culture concept. As globalization has radically pulled cultures apart from a specific locality, we as anthropologists must think of a new way to approach the study of culture. As Appadurai states; “...the landscapes of group identity—the ethnoscapes---around the world are no longer familiar anthropological objects, insofar as groups are no longer tightly territorialized, spatially bounded, historically unselfconscious or culturally homogeneous” (1996:48). The other half of globalization is the reinsertion of culture into new contexts. People, idea, images are re-inscribed into new environments and things become re-localized and made part of a new place and made sense of in a new ways. As such, Appaduari urges the reader to consider “…what is the nature of locality as a lived experience in a globalized, deterritorialized world” (pp.52).

Furthermore he argues that the imagination has now acquired a singular new power in social life, and now more persons in more parts of the world consider a wider set of possible lives than they did before. “More people throughout the world see their lives through the prisms of the possible lives offered by mass media in all their forms” (1996:54), as once imagination and fantasy was only evident in certain social situations in certain contexts, now more people are integrating fantasy into their social lives on a daily basis. He suggests that “…link between the imagination and social life…is increasingly a global and deterritorialized one” (1996:55).

Drawing from Appadurais theory I will investigate Jai Ho clip to shed light on the complexities of globalization, the delocalization of culture and how this affects the creation of imaginations for various individuals.

Official YouTube version of Jai Ho from the end of the Movie Slumdog millionaire
The video depicts an elaborate bollywood style dance scene lead by the main male and female protagonist to a song entitled Jai Ho (may victory be yours). The dance sequence is interjected with clips from the Slumdog Millionaire movie, however the song is continually played throughout. The video clip can be interpreted to accomplish a number of tasks as set forth by the director, first to promote the movie and second to provide a depiction of what the movie is about. It also provides the viewer with a sense of what the country is like, as a seemingly local, territory bound culture area. Thus simultaneously contributing to the viewers imagination of India and possible lives they can imagine as embodied by the characters.

However, upon further investigation what in fact is present by the clip hardly localized at all, but rather is the result of the global flows of information, materials, and ideologies. For example the entire game show the movie is based around, (Who wants to be a Millionaire?) stems from the original show in the US and is part of a larger global phenomenon of an interest in televised game shows dating back to the late 1930’s. Furthermore the dress of the individuals of the film can hardly be said to be “traditional” or bound to the locality of India. For example many of the characters are wearing jeans, a style that originated in United States as well, originally designed for manual labor they were made popular by American teens in the 1950’s. These global commodities or interests are combined and integrated into the locality of India in unique ways, for example the questions asked on the game show are based around Indian historical cultural facts, rooted in the specific locality of the country and Indian culture. Furthermore the main female protagonist wears jeans mixed with a more traditional east Indian sari sash over her head, and many of the background dancers are dressed in perhaps a more “western style” (sneakers, jeans, t-shirts ect…).

As such the director is fabricating an imagined experience of India to construct a movie of cinematic interest for global audience with the hope of gaining a commercial profit. While attempting to display a specific local culture to a global crowd one should note that what is being presented is hardly localized at all. As such, the video is layering concepts of both local culture and the forces of globalization and it is this tension between the two that Appadurai argues, drives cultural reproduction today (1996:63).

Appadurai, Arjun
1996 Global Ethnoscapes: Notes and Queries for a Transnational Anthropology. In Modernity at Large: Cultural Dimensions of Globalization. Pp. 48-65. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press

Blog Posting #1: Placing Blame

Media provides an avenue for individuals to connect and engage in dialogue on a number of global and local issues. Current media practices are characterized by a multiplicity of form and content. From youtube videos, to blog forums, to official online news sources to radio reports, and of course news papers, the possibilities for consumption and engagement are endless. As such, media has become a powerful force in shaping public opinion on heated global debates and events. The current cholera outbreak in Haiti allows for an investigation into how the media has presented the event and what aspects have been emphasized. Upon an analysis of a number of varying new sources it appears as though many media outlets have been focused on blaming issues on specific groups or events, rather than recognizing the complexity of situation at hand.

What is of interest in investigating this disease outbreak and what is highlighted in many media accounts is the fact that there has been no documented outbreak of cholera in Haiti since the 1960’s (Aljazeera Online 2010). This outbreak came as a surprise given the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s statement in March, that was presented during the public health response to the January earthquake which stipulated that cholera was “extremely unlikely to occur in Haiti” (2010). Thus the surprise that has resulted from the outbreak has resulted in discourse from news sources to focus on the imperative need to determine causation and place blame. When investigating stories it is clear that much of the blame is being placed on the Nepalese UN peacekeeping operation, which was located on the upper reaches of the Artibonite river (thought to be the source of the outbreak). Cholera is endemic in Nepal and the country suffered outbreaks this summer, the troops arrived in shifts starting on October 9^th 2010 after the outbreak in their home country and shortly before the disease broke out in Haiti. As stated by 25-year-old Haitian student Ernest Exilume; "The Nepalese brought this disease to the centre of Mirebalais…we have no water to drink…we have no choice but to drink the water from the river." (Aljazeera Online 2010).

This blame in turn has manifested itself into violent protests and uprisings by many Haitian people, which has had the unfortunate consequence of limiting the ability for foreign aid groups such as OXFAM and Doctors Without Borders to provide critical medical care. Furthermore many aid organizations are critical of the slow pace of international donations in response to the crisis (BBC 2010). Edmond Mulet, the head of the UN mission in Haiti, said that; “…violent protests by people who blame peacekeepers for the spread of the disease were wasting time and costing lives” (qtd in BBC 2010). The article and accompanying video in my opinion heavily blame protestors for the inability of effective aid to reach areas where cholera is rampant.

http://www.katu.com/news/national/106358783.html

I feel that what is missing from the reports is that the lack of available clean water is heavily rooted in historical circumstance, ineffective legislation and natural disasters which have worked to (and continue to) exacerbate the spread of cholera. Ultimately it must be noted that it is the immense inequality and poverty in the region has fostered both the presence of the disease and its spread. The World Health Organization (2010) defines cholera as an acute intestinal infection caused by the ingestion of food or water that is contaminated with the bacterium Vibrio cholerae.  The primary means of spread is via water infested with fecal matter, thus cholera is a threat to developing countries in where poor sanitation, lack of hygiene and crowded living condition exist. People with low immunity such as malnourished children or people living with HIV/AIDS are at greater risk of death is infected, therefore the disease is often characterized as the disease of poverty, the third world and underdevelopment. Currently 80% of the population in Haiti is living under the poverty line and 54% live in abject poverty (Central Intelligence Agency 2010). This situation did not happen overnight but rather is rooted in the unique historical particularities and political nature of the country something that I do not think is targeted very well by media sources.

From a historical standpoint Haiti is a colony based originally on plantation economy powered by slave labor from Africa (Schwartz 2010). By 1794 the slave uprising began and within 10 years French colonists were excised. As noted by Schwartz; “…there exists outside Haiti no other case of an enslaved people breaking its own chains and using military might to defeat a powerful colonial power”(2010). What accompanied this independence however was a “…devastated economy and infrastructure as well as hostility with much of the rest of the world’s rulers” (Schwartz 2010).  This was followed by occupations of various troops from other countries and dictatorial regimes leading to a mismanagement of resources and the deterioration of the countries infrastructure. I must commend this media article in recognizing the historicity of the situation, however it should be noted that most articles I came across did not include such references. In turn many focused on the immediate situation at hand, quickly passing blame and judgment where they deemed appropriate. Perhaps by making recognition of historical and political events such as the US occupation from 1915 to 1934 (Schwartz 2010), some of the ambivalence presented by Haitian people would be understood and in turn dealt with in a more effective manner. As stated by Gourevitch; “The scenes of suffering that we tend to call humanitarian crises are almost always symptoms of political circumstances, and there’s no apolitical way of responding to them—no way to act without having a political effect” (2010:106).

The inadequacy of aid,  cholera epidemic and riots are complex in etiology and I don’t believe we can place blame to a single source. Although I do believe the media reports can be credited with creating a global awareness of the cholera epidemic allowing for intervention from outside countries, I do not believe that placing blame on certain groups is an effective method of dealing with a situation that is extremely complex, multifaceted and historical in nature

Reference:

Aljazeera Online

2010. UN troops blamed for Haiti cholera: Nepalese peacekeepers accused by some of bringing disease as Tropical Storm Tomas heads towards country. Accessed Online November 7^th 2010 <http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/10/20101029213344370246.html>

BBC News

2010 Haiti cholera outbreak response 'inadequate', says MSF. Accessed Online February 1^st 2010 <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-11802488>

 

Center for Disease Control and Prevention: Acute Watery Diarrhea and Cholera: Haiti Pre-decision Brief for Public Health Action

    2010 Accessed Online January 31^st 2011

    <http://emergency.cdc.gov/disasters/earthquakes/haiti/waterydiarrhea_pre- decision_brief.asp>

Central Intelligence Agency (2010) World FactBook: Central America and Caribbean: Haiti. Accessed online January 31^st 2011: <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html >

Gourevitch, Philip

2010 Alms Dealer: Can you provide humanitarian aid without facilitating conflict? The New Yorker.

Schwartz, Daniel

January 14 2010 Haiti’s Unhappy History. CBC News. Accessed Online January 29^th    2011 < http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2010/01/13/f-haiti-earthquake-history.html >

Blog Posting #4: Writing on the Bathroom Stall: An Analysis of Bathroom Graffiti on UBC Campus

Venturing into many campus bathrooms to attend to personal, private matters can quickly become an experiment for self-reflection, long political discussion and philosophical musings. These areas, seemingly private and concealed, are transformed into an anonymous public forum and expression space through the simple act of writing. 

Graffiti as defined by Webster’s dictionary (2010) is an unauthorized drawing or writing on a public surface, as such the graffiti is interpreted differently as dependent on context, content and who is viewing it. From an anthropological standpoint Drumuller defines graffiti as the “…written cultural phenomena making use both of symbolic and iconic language” (1988:1).  It may also be a reflection of contemporary customs and moral values revealing details about everyday life through a highly structured communication medium (Rodriguez and Clair 1999:2)

 Washroom SUB (first floor)

A key aspect of the bathroom graffiti, and many other forms of graffiti in general is the fact that it is anonymous and there are no rules in what can be written.  Everyone has the opportunity in the bathroom stall to say anything, however, and to anyone. In this way the washroom graffiti can act to  “level the playing the field” by eliminating factors such as the social status, education, access, expertise and communication competence, t certain individuals are not advantageously privileged nor benefit over others when accessing this medium of expression (Rodriquez and Clair 1999:2). As such, the ability to present ones thoughts in a public forum is limited only by the lack of a writing instrument and ones own personal judgments towards participating in graffiti production.

            According to Bruner and Kelso, although written in the privacy of the toilet stall, the writing of graffiti in this arena is essentially a social act “…to write graffiti is to communicate; one never finds graffiti where they cannot be seen by others” (1980:5). As such, graffiti exists as a rhetorical form, one that invites individual to participate in the conversation and become a collaborator in the creation bathroom dialogue mural.  A new person coming to a toilet stall who chooses to write graffiti must take account of what has previously been written, even in the minimal sense of choosing an appropriate location on the wall.

             Furthermore graffiti may also be seen as an “…outlet for people to express their attitude with regard to race, gender and sexual orientation” (Rodriquez and Clair 1999:2). Indeed this is evident in my collected bathroom graffiti dialogue, for example in response to a statement one individual writes;

Yes I am grateful I wasn’t born a muslim woman, their life looks s*****y, I am also grateful I wasn’t born an Asian gurl, all azns just suck they are ugly and huge losers-Anonymous (Woodward washroom stall in response to statement 2)

Here the graffitist presents her viewpoint on Muslim and Asian people in a distinctly derogatory manner, without fear of retribution or rebuttal through direct confrontation. Others do respond to such statements through the same anonymous media forum through the use of arrows pointing to the statement with accompanying retorts. For example in response to the above statement one individual wrote; “Racist much? You should be ashamed of yourself!”. Other times unfavorable comments were crossed out by others in response. The washroom graffiti provides an opportunity for racist, sexist or homophobic speech to exist without any true sanctions or repercussions from organizations (in this case UBC). Rodriguez and Clair suggest comments on washroom stalls that are sexist, racist or homophobic may “…establish or reinforce the privileging aspects of patriarchal practices, thus, supporting hegemonic order” (1999:3).

Woodward Library Washroom

On the other hand scholars also note that when larger organizing bodies mute public discourses, graffitists resort to public walls to hold such dialogue. This allows conflicts and concerns to be equally visible and known to all that choose a certain stall. This may in fact “…challenge the hegemonic order…in so doing all members of a cultural group, by way of accessibility are equally potential participants and discussants in such discourses” (Rodriquez and Clair 1999:3). For example in many of the stalls I noticed that there was considerable writing against such derogatory statements, presenting a way for cultural groups (ie: Asians or Muslims) to unify around a common discourse. Many individuals retorted to the presented derogatory comment by writing things in their own dialect, hence participating in their own conversation against such racially charged statements while similarly revealing aspects of their identity. Rodriguez and Clair thus suggest that a tension exists with graffiti (especially in bathroom stalls) between it being an enactment of resistance or an articulation of oppression practices, noting that it is possible for graffiti to be both (1999:3).

Not all of the graffiti I found engaged in racial arguments, many were also random notes or poems expressing an individuals thoughts and feelings (see SUB washroom notes) that individuals could express publicly in an anonymous manner. As such, the graffiti in the UBC washrooms exists as a communicative practice from which to gain insight on tensions between groups, ideologies, and general self-expression. It is a unique expressive space, where anonymity plays a central role.

 

Quotes Collected From Bathroom Stalls

Woodward Library Washroom: All in one stall

Woodward Library Washroom (evidence of erasure by others)

(1) Sometime I wish I had ADD so then at least I would have an excuse for not studying

(2)(In response to 1)There are some places in the world where women aren’t even allowed an education, sold to some f**** by 12, having babies at 14 their first experience at s*** is rape and they aren’t allowed to pick up a book! Maybe you all should stop b******* about how much studying cuts into your fbook time be grateful you’re in the tiny minority of women worldwide whoa re literate and study medicine

(3)(In response to 2) Exactly, don’t complain about your own privileged choices

(4)(Arrows indicating in response to 2) Written in Japanese, followed by other notes written in Japanese and Chinese (unsure)

(4) VOTE or DIE B********

SUB Washroom First Floor: All in one Stall

(5) You’re on a rack

       floating through space

(6) I am

       Je suis

      Yo Soy

Reference:

Durmuller, U.

   1988 Sociolinguistic aspects of mural sprayscripts (Graffiti). Sociolinguistics 17(1):-16.

Bruner, Edward and Kelso, Jane

1980 Gender differences in graffiti: A semiotic perspective. Women’s studies International Quarterly 3(1):137-148

Rodriquez, Amardo and Clair, Robin

1999 Graffiti as communication: Exploring the discursive tensions of anonymous texts.     Southern Communication Journal 65(1):1-15

Websters Online Dictionary

   2010 Accessed online: http://www.merriam-webster.com/