Graffiti and the Writing Arts of Early Modern England

by Juliet Fleming

Tattoos and graffiti immediately bring to mind contemporary urban life and its inhabitants. But in fact, both practices date back much further than is generally thought—even by scholars. Drawing on a previously unavailable archive, Juliet Fleming reveals the unknown and disregarded literary arts of sixteenth century England.             In Graffiti and the Writing Arts of Early Modern England , Fleming argues that our modern assumptions of what constitutes written expression have limited our access to and understanding of early modern history and writing. Fleming combines detailed historical scholarship with intellectual daring in a work that describes how writing practices have not been limited to the boundaries of the page; instead they have included body surfaces, ceramics, ceilings, walls, and windows.             Moving beyond what has been preserved in print and manuscript, this book claims the whitewashed wall as the primary textual canvas of the early modern English, explores the tattooing practices of sixteenth-century Europeans, and uncovers the poetics of ceramic cookware. Graffiti and the Writing Arts of Early Modern England will provide a startling new perspective for scholars of early modern literature and cultural history.

Genres: History

216 pages, Hardcover

First published April 12, 2001

Reviews

[Kristi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fleming examines literacy through 16th century English graffiti and inscribed objects, decorated with visual patterning as well as text. She argues that the boundaries between writing and visual ornamentation were fluid, and that literacy was not limited by what was written on paper. These more ephemeral writings were document a writing which challenge late modern notions of literacy. Graffiti and object inscriptions were detached from the authorial subjectivity, and regarded as materialized thought. In this way, wall writings, tattoos, and inscriptions on domestic objects and clothing, had an expressive consciousness that existed independently of the writer.