Стрит-арт: подходы к изучению феномена в социальных и гуманитарных науках

The article aims at analyzing the existing in social sciences and the humanities different approaches to the study of street art phenomenon. These approaches have a great variety, since street art is a multidimensional phenomenon that has a number of specifics. The article presents developed by the author classification of a large amount of the existing in social sciences and the humanities publications on street art. The main criterion of this classification is a particular emphasis that an author puts in his work, the main research focus or, in other words, the particular aspect of street art phenomenon that author to a greater extent gives attention to. The article in total presents four types of publications about street art. The first type is the works that consider street art as a kind of contemporary, activist, or postmodern art. They often describe the history of street art emergence and development, along with art techniques represented in creating different artworks. The second type of studies examines street art and city space interaction. The authors in such works analyze how street artworks «fit» into urban space and research their ability to transform city, influence the urban environment, radically change its whole appearance and, moreover, its meaning and purpose. The third type is the studies of street art protest potential; they, most commonly, focus on street artist as a rebel, challenging society and fighting against social injustice. These publications note that street artist necessarily carries an important, socially significant idea, which he embodies in his creativity. And the last type of works considers street art as a form of communication, its ability to engage city residents in dialogue and organize social interaction.