What role does different media play in giving social value to symbolic things such as street art? Professor Tommaso Milani of Penn State University presents the notion of mediatization, a concept derived from linguistic anthropology as a way of trying to understand this type of question.
The talk will center around the discursive circulation of Banksy’s street art assemblage, in particular Banksy’s street art in Palestine which grabs attention by sparking strong emotions and morally challenging people to witness the Israeli/Palestinian conflict firsthand. This often happens by seeing the graffitied wall itself or pictures of it - some people aren't as excited about this approach, questioning the emotional pull used to share the art.
Tommaso Milani is a Professor of Applied Linguistics, Jewish Studies, African Studies, and Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, and head of the Department of Applied Linguistics at The Pennsylvania State University, USA.
The seminar will be held in English, both on campus and via Zoom.
To obtain a Zoom link, please sign up for the seminar by following the instructions down below. The link will be sent out to you about 1h before the seminar starts.