The language of the walls: the graffiti as a field of symbolic dispute

Urban space, as a field of meaning, includes a set of historical, political, economic, social, aesthetic and cultural relations. This article, with a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, bibliographical and documentary approach, has as object of study graffiti produced in the district of Campo dos Alemaes, peripheral region of the city of Sao Jose dos Campos, headquarters of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraiba Paulista, in years of 2007 and 2010, when the practice was prohibited by law. It is questioned if the graffiti can be considered forms of resistance and if they constitute expression of appropriation and resignification of territory and of the urban landscape. As a reference, besides resource of the graffiti, the field observation and the testimonies of two graffiti artists. The study pointed out that the graffiti, stigmatized by social exclusion, was used as an instrument of affirmation of identities and imposition of social visibility.