Graffiti

Modern definitions of graffiti tend to focus on the illicit, illegal and anti-social elements of the term, often framing such marks as a form of vandalism and a threat to public or private property. Although general understandings of the term usually reflect these modern interpretations, it is important, however, to acknowledge that graffiti has a plurality of definitions and that the term can be applied to a variety of different markings. Graffiti can mean very different things to different people, often depending on the person describing the marks and the contexts within which the graffiti marks are situated. Such factors subsequently influence language choices and how particular marks are valued.

‘Historic Graffiti at Thornton Abbey and Gatehouse’. Image taken by Emma Bryning.

Graffiti is commonly understood as words or pictures which are drawn or written on walls, doors, and other surfaces in public places. However, the term can be further understood in complex and varied ways. Graffiti can be an example of self-expression and/or an art form, graffiti art; a subversive and subcultural practice and a form of visual communication; a way of highlighting or attacking a particular person, group or idea; both a global movement and a way to understand our local environment; an historic record; and, as previously mentioned, an illicit mark-making practice. And the study of graffiti marks can also intersect with a range of research disciplines, including archaeology, criminology, and sociology, to name just a few — demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature and perspective of such work. However, the definition of graffiti is not to be understood through academic research alone, but primarily through its usage in everyday life; through response to the creation of new marks and reflection upon those which have been created throughout time and across the globe.

Modern and contemporary graffiti is often associated with the use of markers and spray-cans, and with the development of sub-terms such as ‘tagging’, ‘bombing’, and ‘getting-up’, which are linked to the growth of the modern graffiti movement in the mid-to-late 1960s in Philadelphia and, later, in the 1970s in New York City. However, the first recorded usage of the term graffiti was in 1851, when it was used to describe the ancient wall-markings that had been found by archaeologists excavating the ruins of Pompeii. Graffiti is derived from the Italian word graffio, to scratch, and ultimately from the Greek graphein, to scratch, draw or write. Consequently, graffiti can refer to both marks made after the term was first used in the mid-nineteenth century and to wall-markings which were made thousands of years before the word graffiti became so associated with the marks. In contrast to the contemporary connotations of graffiti, which usually understand the marks as illicit and the practice as illegal, writing on walls seems to have been a common practice and a largely accepted behaviour up until the nineteenth century. For example, Juliet Fleming has described how, in early modern England, there was no term to differentiate or distinguish the practice of wall-writing (now understood as graffiti) from other forms of writing and that it was ‘not yet considered a vice’ (Fleming, 33). And. as Fiona McDonald has shown in The Popular History of Graffiti, it wasn’t until the Victorian era that attitudes towards graffiti became less tolerant: what was once a common and socially acceptable practice began to be viewed as a crime and an eyesore. It was around this time that a practice — which can arguably be traced back to prehistoric cave paintings and ancient, everyday marks — began to be defined as an example of offensive and criminal behaviour.

‘Historic Graffiti at Brougham Castle’. Image taken by Emma Bryning.

When referring to graffiti created in the early modern period, it is important to note that, whilst the term itself is anachronistic, the practice of writing on walls was fairly common. As a result, it can be difficult to definitively define if a mark is or is not to be considered graffiti — such a judgement can depend upon different understandings of the term. Historic examples that fit within the more conventional framework, for instance, include ritual (or apotropaic) marks; messages noting words, initials, sayings, or dates; music; and devotional or non-devotional images. Marks inscribed during the assembly of a building or structure (such as mason’s and carpenter’s marks) are sometimes also included in this definition. Some literary scholars, however, have treated the practice of annotations or marginalia as a form of graffiti, whilst some archaeologists have considered the practice of mark-making on objects. Both of these examples add another layer of complexity to the term as we stray further away from the understanding of graffiti as something exclusively created on walls or built surfaces.

In Medieval Graffiti, archaeologist and graffiti specialist Matthew Champion has suggested that, whilst some inscriptions can be attributed to a particular period, era or century, others remain enigmatic and difficult to date, and, thus, further complicate graffiti research. Meanwhile, the meanings and functions of the symbols depicted can shift and change over time. Apotropaic or ritual markings (derived from the Greek word apotropais, to avert evil) were commonly used in England, particularly in religious settings, during the pre-Reformation period. Post-Reformation, and into the late-sixteenth and early-seventeenth centuries, these ‘superstitious’ practices may have become less common, but were still used, understood, and inherited as protective markings. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, meanwhile, textual based graffiti marks became increasingly common, created by both those local to a site and by tourists wishing to record their visit. Though it is now largely discouraged, during this period leaving a tourist mark was sometimes considered an acceptable and popular practice, and one which formed part of the visitor experience.

Thus, whilst graffiti is currently understood as the practice of writing or drawing on walls and structures, our understanding of graffiti marks — and the term graffiti itself — depends upon the relationship between (and within) a given society and the built environment around them. Consequently, graffiti is a term which encompasses a plurality of meanings and one which shifts and changes depending on its historical and spatial contexts.

Emma Bryning is a Collaborative Doctoral Programme PhD Candidate with the Department of Archaeology at the University of York and English Heritage.

Selected Bibliography.

Champion, Matthew. Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England’s Churches (London, 2015).

Fleming, Juliet. Graffiti and the Writing Arts of Early Modern England (Philadelphia, 2001).

McDonald, Fiona. The Popular History of Graffiti: From the Ancient World to the Present (New York, 2013).

16 April 2021.