The conflict over cultural objects: approaches to research and problematization, on example of graffiti

Abstract

In Russian cultural context it becomes more widespread when the objects of material culture and arts appear to provoke not only disagreement among the experts but also conflicts and struggle between broader socio-political groups, apparent in frequent public scandals, protests, trials etc. It seems necessary to develop a theoretical framework that contributes the analysis of such cases and the objects generating them. In this paper we examine the conceptual resources applied by the social researchers to graffiti – the symbolic object that constantly, for decades excites contradictory reactions and public debates in different countries, including Russia. We describe the two approaches (so called “constructivist” and “structuralist”), demonstrate their limitations and claim that, while these two approaches are used by the same researchers as supplementary, they contradict each other. In conclusion we propose the alternative approach which is aimed at the reconstruction of local configuration of relations (between different agents, between agents and space, between agents and culture objects belonging to the space, and etc.) which is questioned and reconsidered through the “problematic” culture objects.