Some Cunts: Graffiti, Globalisation, Injurious Speech and 'Owning' Signification

Abstract

This article examines the way in which processes of signification in contemporary culture are governed by motifs of ownership--who has the 'right' to make the 'right' kind of signification, whose significatory powers can be considered to be dominant, and what sorts of ethical considerations can be applied to the granting of meaning and implication. By examining contemporary political graffiti, issues of globalisation and debates over the figurative term 'cunt', the article discusses the inefficacy of claims to significatory 'ownership' while making a case for contingent practices of 'fixing' signification for local political praxis.