Visual representations on Nigerian trucks: a semiotic study

IF 0.9 3区社会学 0 HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Semiotica Pub Date : 2022-11-01 DOI:10.1515/sem-2019-0126

Eyo O. Mensah, Benjamin O. Nyong

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

Abstract The public transport sector in the urban landscape in Nigeria is a prominent social site for the spatial distribution of automobile graffiti signatures. Transporters have various kinds of symbolic tags on their vehicles that convey different messages which represent their local attitudes, beliefs, religious identities, folk psychology, and safety precautionary measures to recipients (other road users and passers-by). This article, based on two case studies, examines the practice of automobile graffiti on trucks and lorries in Calabar metropolis, Cross River State, south-eastern Nigeria. It investigates the motivations, thematic categories, and subjective semiotic interpretations of these verbal signatures from the perspectives of visual semiotics theory using participant observations, semi-structured interviews, and informal conversations. The study demonstrates that truck drivers/owners use their vehicles as visible artistic platforms in the public space to express their thoughts and sentiments on personal, social, and religious issues affecting the society. The study concludes that these inscriptions and imageries are artistic subcultures that mirror wide ranging value categories and provide outlets for spatial transformation, creative agencies, and social commentaries.

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尼日利亚卡车的视觉表征:符号学研究

尼日利亚城市景观中的公共交通部门是汽车涂鸦签名空间分布的突出社会场所。运输业者在其车辆上有各种象征性的标签，向接受者(其他道路使用者和过路人)传达不同的信息，这些信息代表了他们在当地的态度、信仰、宗教身份、民间心理和安全预防措施。本文基于两个案例研究，考察了尼日利亚东南部克罗斯河州卡拉巴尔大都市卡车和货车上的汽车涂鸦实践。本文运用参与者观察、半结构化访谈和非正式对话，从视觉符号学理论的角度研究了这些口头签名的动机、主题类别和主观符号学解释。研究表明，卡车司机/车主将他们的车辆作为公共空间中可见的艺术平台，表达他们对影响社会的个人、社会和宗教问题的想法和情感。研究认为，这些铭文和图像是艺术亚文化，反映了广泛的价值范畴，并为空间转换、创意机构和社会评论提供了出口。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Semiotica Multiple-

CiteScore

1.30

自引率

37.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Semiotica, the Journal of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, founded in 1969, appears in five volumes of four issues per year, in two languages (English and French), and occasionally in German. Semiotica features articles reporting results of research in all branches of semiotic studies, in-depth reviews of selected current literature in this field, and occasional guest editorials and reports. From time to time, Special Issues, devoted to topics of particular interest, are assembled by Guest Editors. The publishers of Semiotica offer an annual prize, the Mouton d"Or, to the author of the best article each year. The article is selected by an independent international jury.