Reading rebellion: Hip Hop graffiti art as a public literacy text : The case of mak1one, Cape Town, South Africa

• Main Author: Mackay, Taryn Jeanie
• Format: Others
• Language: en
• Published: 2016
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10539/19894

A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of the University of Witwatersrand’s Masters by Coursework and Research Report in Journalism studies. Johannesburg, March 2015 === Rebellion is expressed in a number of ways. In this paper, I analyse arts of resistance through a close reading in situ of Hip Hop graffiti art produced by mak1one while reflecting on the historical construction of the dominant aesthetics of Cape Town, South Africa in order to highlight how these artworks can act as tools of public literacy and organised visual dissent for those adversely affected by colonisation, slavery and the effects of European conquest. The research paper takes a qualitative exploratory approach. The method that is utilised is Critical Discourse Analysis, with the sub-method used to analyse the content of the Hip Hop graffiti art visuals being semiotic analysis. Five images are analaysed in their location. The main messages communicated by mak1one in these works are found to be African, indigenous humanity; political rebellion for freedom; cultural hybridity; and autonomy. The paper finds it is reasonable to assert that Hip Hop graffiti art acts as a form of public literacy in Cape Town. The main contribution that this research makes is to fill the gap in the literature by blending the research domains of public literacy, arts of resistance and control through aesthetics with specific reference to Hip Hop graffiti art in Africa.