1st Edition
Tattoo Histories Transcultural Perspectives on the Narratives, Practices, and Representations of Tattooing
Tattoo Histories is an edited volume which analyses and discusses the relevance of tattooing in the socio-cultural construction of bodies, boundaries, and identities, among both individuals and groups. Its interdisciplinary approach facilitates historical as well as contemporary perspectives. Rather than presenting a universal, essentialized history of tattooing, the volume’s objective is to focus on the entangled and transcultural histories, narratives, and practices related to tattoos. Contributions stem from various fields, including Archaeology, Art History, Classics, History, Linguistics, Media and Literary Studies, Social and Cultural Anthropology, and Sociology. They advance the current endeavour on the part of tattoo scholars to challenge Eurocentric and North American biases prevalent in much of tattoo research, by including various analyses based in locations such as Malaysia, Israel, East Africa, and India. The thematic focus is on the transformative capacity of tattoos and tattooing, with regard to the social construction of bodies and subjectivity; the (re-)creation of social relationships through the definition of (non-)tattooed others; the formation and consolidation of group identities, traditions, and authenticity; and the conceptualization of art and its relevance to tattoo artist–tattooee relations.
Introduction
1. Indelible Ink: An Introduction to the Histories, Narratives, and Practices of Tattooing
Sinah Theres Kloß
Part I: Tattoos as Individual or Communal Body Projects
2. "I Just Want It to Look Pretty": Reproducing Heteronormative Gender Roles through Tattoo Reality TV: Miami Ink
Verena Hutter
3. Identity, Gender Roles, and Tattooing among Italian Lesbian Women
Alessandra Castellani
4. Mi Familia: Latina Women in the US Negotiate Identity and Social Sanctions through Tattooing
Beverly Yuen Thompson
Part II: Tattoos and Othering
5. "If Skin Were Parchment": Tattoos in Antiquity
Martin T. Dinter and Astrid Khoo
6. Marking France’s Enemies: Masculinity, Sexuality, and the Tattoo in Revolutionary France
Victoria N. Meyer
7. "So Much Magic on Your Flesh": The Ma(r)king of Selves in the TV Series Salem
Stephanie Weber
8. The True Life and Adventures of Tattooed Performers: Tattoos, Captivity Narratives, and the Savage in Literature
Amelia Klem Osterud
Part III: (De-)Colonization, Revitalization, and Cultural Appropriation
9. Indigenous (Re)inscription: Transmission of Cultural Knowledge(s) through Tattoos as Resistance
Pauline Alvarez
10. The Custom of Marking the Body among the Santals of India
Ata Mallick
11. Sacred Skin: Tattooing, Memory, and Identity among the Naga of India
Lars Krutak
12. Chinese Characters on Foreign Bodies: Chinese Character Tattoos and Cultural Appropriation
Guy Almog
13. Skinscape Souvenirs and Globalized Bodies: Tattoo Tourism and Language in East Africa
Nico Nassenstein and Maren Rüsch
Part IV: Tattoo as Embodied Art
14. Shame Laid Bare: Damien Hirst’s Tattoo Work butterfly, divided
Ole Wittmann
15. Incompatible Inking Ideologies in the Ancient Greek World
Owen Rees
16. Negotiating a Personal Experience: Identity Affirmation of the Horimono Artist
Hannah M. Y. Ho
Biography
Sinah Theres Kloß is a research associate at the Morphomata Center for Advanced Studies, University of Cologne, Germany.