A Cultural Analysis Of Social Articulations In Banksy’s Stencil Graffiti Works

This thesis provides a cultural analysis of street artist Banksy’s socialarticulations delivered by signs constructed intentionally in his stencil graffiti works.Based on Roland Barthes‘s semiotic theory and Dick Hebdige‘s subculturaltheorization, this thesis discusses that via constructing some connotative signs instencil graffiti works, Banksy articulates for the lower class, the powerless and themarginalized group on social and political issues, such as social equality, peace andwar, global poverty, and human rights. Besides, Banksy also shows his resistingattitude to authority and dominant culture by parodying the images of the police, theQueen and the classical figures in classical painting.The primary intention is to explore three research questions:1)What signs areintentionally constructed by Banksy in his stencil graffiti works?2) How can thesesigns be decoded?3) What social articulations are embedded in his stencil graffitiworks and how are they embedded there? To find out the answers of these questions,this thesis relies on Bansky‘s semiotic analysis of signs to explore the socio-culturalcontext of Banksy’s stencil graffiti works so as to understand its connotativemeanings. Moreover, according to Dick Hebdige‘s subcultural theory, on the onehand, Banksy‘s stencil graffiti works are created as intentional communication with the audience; On the other hand, as rebellious subcultural styles, the subversion inBanksy’s stencil graffiti works reveal Banksy‘s resistance to the authority anddominant culture.The rising popularity of Banksy and his stencil graffiti in recent years actuallyevokes the public to have more reflections on the globally social and political issues.Accordingly, people begin to recognize the significance of street art or subculture.This thesis provides a practical method of analyzing Banksy‘s stencil graffiti worksfrom the perspective of semiotics and subculture, which is actually an attempt ofexploring the significance of Banksy‘s street art.