A Multimodal Analysis of Graffiti: A Case Study of Government Schools in Punjab, Pakistan
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.55737/qjssh.972573133Keywords:
Graffiti, Multimodality, Ideology, Semiology, SDAAbstract
There have always been various modes of communication, and humans not only communicate verbally but non-verbally as well. Graffiti has been one of the effective means of communication. Different visual and verbal practices are employed in this type of communication. The present study decodes critically visual and verbal modes of communication used in graffiti. The data for the study in hand has been collected from government boys and girls schools in southern Punjab. The time span for data collection ranges from January to June 2023. The data has been analyzed by applying Fairclough’s (2003) model of Critical Discourse Analysis and Barthes's (1974) model of Semiological Discourse Analysis. The analysis of the data reveals that graffiti is one of the persuasive means of communication. Desired ideological messages could easily be conveyed to the target audience by employing this mode of communication. The percentage of graffiti discourses related to the promotion of female education in the collected data is higher (80%) as compared to data related to the promotion of education for male students (75%). This study contends that the element of change has been observed as far as the promotion of female education is concerned through graffiti of urban and rural schools for boys and girls.
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