The history of graffiti as a piece of popular culture in America

Graffiti is still considered to be one of the cultural components or items. Graffiti has a complicated history dating back to its inception. In some cases, it is regarded as art, while in others, it is acknowledged as a form of urban communication. The beginning of the graffiti system in America is credited to the influx of isolated communities, Chicanos, and Africans in American history. Early in 1960, the presence of African Americans and Chicanos prompted the need to use the defined art form of graffiti to politically escape the shackles of slavery (Maura, 2002:6). The graffiti genre is seen to be used by these people to express their frustrations, and they articulate their dreams aiming at challenging the political establishments of the American system in the 1960s. There is a lot of sense that is given by different scholars of what graffiti is. Some researchers argue it as art while others counter-argue that it is a cultural heritage and a way of communication. There has not yet been a consensus on the definition of graffiti, its purpose in serving in the American History and also on its transition from its existence.

The scope of graffiti in the cities of America is worth of research when it comes to analysis of the American popular culture. In response, there is a valid perception of graffiti to various scholars in this area. Therefore, examining the popular culture as portrayed by the use of graffiti in American for ages will be of significance in understanding the American culture and history.

Literature Review

Thesis discussion

From history, graffiti appeared first in Philadelphia in 1960s. However, history proves that in the ancient Romanian and Greek caves were found graffiti which were written in protest poems. According to Ashanti (2004:12), graffiti is considered as an art of expression. In the popular American culture, the appearance is viewed as a significant factor by a group of people aiming at achieving a particular political or social goal. For instance, Gleaton (2012: n.p), perceives graffiti as a source of political activism in the late 20th century in America. Due to a subgroup that was not contented in the form of governance that they were subjected to in America, they used the graffiti style as the medium to activate the spirit of rebellion. The activists express their needs using the medium such as pieces, stenciling, sculpture, and tags that carried strong subversive messages. Expression of grievances through this method was found illegal by the government officials until 1980s where graffiti was considered positive. Ashanti (2014:12) gives more details about the graffiti in the American popular culture and affirms that the art was an embodiment of illusion that stirred realism in the History of American’s history. The adoption of graffiti by the gangs in making the territorial Hip Hop music depicts a symbol of the participants in the expression of their needs and wants from the American political governance.

Therefore, the identity of the graffiti users will serve as a theme in the prospected research. There is a need to examine the significance of the expressions that were aimed at by the African Americans and the Chicano people in the graffiti they made on the street walls in America. On the same point, the identity and significance of graffiti in the American popular culture will be evaluated in the context of the cities in America to affirm the previous research on the cultural heritage of the graffiti by bates (2004: n.p) as urban arts, and how it is perceived since the beginning of 1980.

Research Design

How will the thesis be investigated?

The research question will require a review of the literature to support the thesis. Graffiti as cultural objects in the American history will be researched from the researcher’s previous reports which will be incorporated into the new insights of this research. To support that graffiti is a concept of popular culture, the study will require utilizing a minimum of ten books which addresses graffiti as an element of culture. There will also be an approximately ten peer-reviewed articles in support of the thesis.

Rationale

The primary motivation for the research of graffiti is to make a close interaction of the literature materials and get a grasp of the popular culture in the American History. There is a need to interrogate the concept of the significance of graffiti and explore the implications they have on the popular culture. The idea behind the research study is to bring out the underlying arguments of previous researchers in popular culture. The scope of the research is the American cities, and the research findings will be used in the body of knowledge to develop a wholesome description of the famous American culture based on graffiti as art and information medium. This research approach is unique and relevant because the previous researchers have not exhausted in researching on graffiti in the development of the American culture. The research will also update the history of Americans from the information about graffiti and also define the United States of America as a growing nation.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the American popular culture has gone a lot of transformation since the 1980s (Bates, 2014:37). The new image for graffiti has been developed since then proprietors such as Keith Haring and Basquiat. Graffiti from the art to create expression strategies to being the embodiment of illusion for the pop culture and as cultural heritage in the urban communication has landed to gain an identity and embraced by many people as an art of communications and aesthetics (Bates, 2004:37). The research design adopted will be able to achieve in elaborate description of the broad aspects of graffiti as elements of popular American culture with supportive literature.

References

Ashanti, W. 2014. From primitive to integral: the evolution of graffiti art. Journal of Conscious Evolution, 11, 1-13.

Bates, L. (2014). Bombing, Tagging, Writing: An Analysis of the Significance of Graffiti and Street Art.

Gleaton, K.M. 2012. People to the power: Street Art as an Agency for Change. August, Retrieved from: https://conservancy.umn.edu/.../Gleaton,%20Kristina%20MLS%20Thesis.pdf?sequence=1

Maura, E.G. 2002. The Power of the Urban Canvas: Paint, Politics, and Mural Art Policy. New England Journal of Public Policy, 18(1), 6.