Graffiti as a voice for marginalized and active communities: the case of Lavapiés, Madrid

The linguistic landscape constitutes a space of contestation that reveals numerous identities, ideological conflicts, and socio-political power relations. Using a qualitative content analysis framework, this paper analyzes the ideological conflicts of a Madrid neighborhood through the study of the g...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Arias Álvarez, Alba|||0000-0002-8827-6823
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2025
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Alcalá (UAH)
Repositorio:e_Buah Biblioteca Digital Universidad de Alcalá
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ebuah.uah.es:10017/65923
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10017/65923
https://dx.doi.org/10.37536/LYM.1.17.2025.2504
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Graffiti
Linguistic landscape
Lavapiés
Identity
Sociopolitical ideologies
Grafiti
Paisaje lingüístico
Identidad
Ideologías socio-políticas
Lingüística
Sociología
Linguistics
Sociology
Descripción
Sumario:The linguistic landscape constitutes a space of contestation that reveals numerous identities, ideological conflicts, and socio-political power relations. Using a qualitative content analysis framework, this paper analyzes the ideological conflicts of a Madrid neighborhood through the study of the graffiti displayed in its public sphere. This article focuses on Lavapiés, a complex globalized area shared by tourists, locals, and immigrants whose reputation for diversity draws people seeking to engage with interculturality and multilingualism, turning Lavapiés into a gentrified space. Graffiti can operate as a symbolic marker of solidarity, resistance, discrimination, and empowerment in communities with diverse cultural, political, and social characteristics and, consequently, its exploration can reveal counter-narratives to majority and dominant voices. Due to the gentrification and touristification processes that Lavapiés is undergoing, different frames of meaning related to identity negotiation and representation, as well as to socio-political identities, were found in its linguistic landscape.