These articles work to define graffiti. We have been battling to find a definition in class for the past weeks. Does graffiti need to be permanent? Are street signs graffiti? Can graffiti only be writing? These authors contribute to this topic and determine that there is no cohesive definition in the context of early modern graffiti.
Juliet Fleming begins by discussing how our modern biases affect how we interpret Elizabethan graffiti. She uses the posey ring and post-it notes as a comparison or a modern form of graffiti off of walls. She points out that the wall was designed to be written on and this makes us question if graffiti can then only be created on a wall. Kate and Melanie Giles discuss the concealed communities of the yorkshire horse lads. They make an important point that graffiti is often created out of boredom. Veronique brings up this same idea by pointing out that graffiti is an activity that is ritual like. Rituals are committed for a number of reasons just as graffiti is created for a number of reasons.