This research studies the discursive ways in which male student graffiti at Midlands State University reveal ethnic tensions between the Shona and Ndebele of Zimbabwe. The study is carried out in a sociopolitical environment in which spaces for openly discussing issues of ethnicity have been greatly limited, especially in conventional media. Any discussion of ethnicity is quickly labelled as fanning tribalism and is therefore suppressed or criticised. This does not, however, mean ethnicity is not engaged with outside of conventional platforms. Graffiti is one such alternative platform appropriated by male university students to discuss ethnicity issues. It emerges that such discussions are predominantly violent in nature with each group trying to prove or assert its dominance over the other. The analysis of this data is couched in Wodak and Meyer’s discourse-historical approach as it gives precedence to the historical context in which the discursive ‘events’ are embedded.

这项研究研究了米德兰兹州立大学男生涂鸦的话语方式，揭示了津巴布韦的绍纳人和恩德贝勒人之间的种族紧张关系。这项研究是在一个社会政治环境中进行的，在这个环境中，公开讨论种族问题的空间非常有限，尤其是在传统媒体中。关于种族的任何讨论都很快被贴上煽动部落的标签，因此遭到压制或批评。但是，这并不意味着种族不参与常规平台之外的活动。涂鸦是男性大学生适合讨论种族问题的一种替代平台。结果表明，这种讨论本质上是暴力的，每个小组都试图证明或主张其在另一个组织中的统治地位。