Language and meanings of human subjectivity in urban culture narratives: analyzing stickers used on cars

Abstract

Based on conceptions about language, urban technologies and narratives consummated within everyday life interactions, we problematize the cultural practice of narration in the urban context. We present the analysis of the data gathered during a research developed in the city of Santa Maria, Brazil, involving the collection and analysis of images and conversations with car drivers, as well as readers of car stickers, popularly known as "happy family" stickers. Among other findings, we observed that "happy family" stickers, strategically applied on the bumpers of cars, instigate several enlightening meaning processes of individual and collective forms of self and hetero identitarian narrative in the urban context.