Graffiti on the Great Plains: A Social Reaction to the Red River Valley Flood of 1997.

GRAFFITI; DISASTERS

Superficially, graffiti and disasters seem unrelated. Nevertheless, following the Red River Valley flood of 1997, a private form of graffiti emerged in public spaces in the twin cities of Grand Forks, Noah Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota. Five thematic categories of graffiti emerged through the analysis of photographed images. The emergence and content of the graffiti appear to be directly related to residents' flood experiences. Initially, this graffiti provided a functional symbolic cue to demarcate flood-damaged property. However, the intended purpose of tagging property evolved into a community discourse of flood-recovery through graffiti that included the reaffirmation of the ethos of the community. We label such graffiti catastroffiti as a unique typology related to natural disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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