Bin ich ein Berliner? Graffiti as layered public archive and socio-ecological methodology

Abstract

In this article, we discuss the role played by graffiti in representing, fomenting and studying binary and non-binary sentiments of ‘us’ and ‘them’. Through asocio-textual analysis of examples of public anti-gentrification and anti-touristification protest graffiti in Berlin, we consider the complex layers of history, identity, mobility, community and environment which have been folded onto one another throughout the city over the past decades. By investigating the textual politics of belonging and self as shown through the lens of graffiti, we argue that representational analyses of so-called banal public texts can help to comprehend the complexities that lie behind binary socio-cultural categories (e.g. local/non-local. In exploring some of the defining characteristics that distinguish ecocritical from environmental humanities approaches to critique, the article posits how multiple disciplines—even those well outside humanities subjects—might well be able to benefit from the humanities’ distinct approaches to cultural, or indeed social, analysis.

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