ABSTRACT
Liliana Wahba examines the graffiti of São Paulo, Brazil, to understand the psyche of its people in the grips of postmodernity or hypermodernity in which fragmentation, dispersion, and uncertainty are the norm. Her analysis of a large variety of images reveals a collective psyche that seems overwhelmed, numbed, and tortured by the pace and dehumanization of the urban environment. In particular, the author identifies a sense of rootlessness and instability that results in a fragmentary and fluid self. However, she also detects the potential for creative renewal coming through art.
