Law and Literature: Graffiti
A special issue of Humanities (ISSN 2076-0787).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 1 September 2024 | Viewed by 310
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
From the Latin “scariphare,” meaning “to mark the walls with forbidden signs”, “graffiti” entered Italian in the 19th century as a term for illicit markings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed on public surfaces. But this modern misdemeanor and art movement has a long history that overlaps with the cultural practices that would condemn it. Ancient emperors etched their edicts into the faces of cliffs, and medieval sovereigns engaged in law-scratching (Velasco 2019). Writing began among protohuman beings as the stenciling of pigment onto rock (Hoffman et al 2018). Today, paratextual techniques of authorization originating in premodernity—from ancient stamps and signatures to medieval seals and cords—survive in colophons, logos, bar- and QR codes, and other graphics.
This Special Issue invites contributions that consider the relationship of graffiti, broadly construed, to the institution of law, power, and space. While it welcomes discussion of the representation of law by artists, it is especially interested in proposals that probe the role of literary and visual experimentation in shaping physical and digital environments. If dirt, for Mary Douglas, is “matter out of place,” what constitutes writing “out of place” (Douglas 1966)? What role do forms of inscription, whether licit or illicit, play in what Julie Stone Peters calls law’s “art of the real” (Peters 2022)? Contributions from scholars working across modalities, fields and periods are welcome. Please submit proposals of 250 words max. to Lindsay Stern (lstern@fas.harvard.edu).
Dr. Lindsay O’Connor Stern
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Humanities is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- law
- literature
- graffiti
- media
- writing
- performance
- law-scratching
- cultural techniques
