"Conscientizacao" through Graffiti Literacies in the Streets of a Sao Paulo Neighborhood: An Ecosocial Semiotic Perspective

Autor/inn/en	Iddings, Ana Christina DaSilva; McCafferty, Steven G.; da Silva, Maria Lucia Teixeira
Titel	"Conscientizacao" through Graffiti Literacies in the Streets of a Sao Paulo Neighborhood: An Ecosocial Semiotic Perspective
Quelle	In: Reading Research Quarterly, 46 (2011) 1, S.5-21 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0034-0553
DOI	10.1598/RRQ.46.1.1
Schlagwörter	Neighborhoods; Social Action; Foreign Countries; Reading Ability; Semiotics; Art Products; Homeless People; Reading Skills; Writing Skills; Adults; Interviews; Urban Areas; Social Influences; Political Issues; Consciousness Raising; Cultural Influences; Artists; Brazil + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Neighbourhoods; Nachbarschaft; Soziales Handeln; Ausland; Reading competence; Lesekompetenz; Semiotik; Künstlerische Produktion; Homeless person; Homeless persons; Obdachloser; Reading skill; Lesefertigkeit; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Urban area; Stadtregion; Sozialer Einfluss; Politischer Faktor; Bewusstseinsbildung; Cultural influence; Kultureinfluss; Artiste; Artist; Künstler; Künstlerin; Brasilien
Abstract	In this study, we applied an ecosocial semiotic theoretical framework to the analysis of graffiti literacies in the Vila Madalena neighborhood of Sao Paulo, Brazil, to inquire about the nature and processes of "conscientizacao" (critical awareness) for adult street dwellers who had no or little ability to read and write (as traditionally defined). An ecosocial semiotic framework suggests that people shape their environment through the use of signs, and these signs in turn shape them as part of the complex, dynamic, and nonlinear process in which the environment and its meanings are actively coproduced. We interviewed five adults in the neighborhood community regarding their thoughts about and experience of graffiti. We also interviewed two of Sao Paulo's renowned urban interventionists (a graffiti gallery owner and a graffiti artist) concerning how they perceived the social and political role of graffiti in the community. Findings indicate that certain ecosocial semiotic features of graffiti art are particularly helpful in providing opportunities for "conscientizacao" to take place for the participants we interviewed. The interventionists expressed a deliberate desire to influence the social and political consciousness of community members, which they also hoped would lead to social action. All participants suggested that graffiti has become an important resource in the community, helping members engage in critical perspectives of both the immediate and distal worlds around them. Overall, examining the nature of graffiti literacy in Sao Paulo, how it is constituted, and how it affects community members is revealing as a process of "conscientizacao" that may have important implications for broadening understandings of praxis. (Contains 1 table and 12 figures.) (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10