I was a little unsure of where to start for this inquiry, for when I was working on my degree everything had to be peer-reviewed and from a credible journal or source to be even considered for a research project. However, since starting my time in the post degree program many of the projects have not required strictly academic level resources, and just internet sites have been acceptable for some of the projects we have done so far.
I still find myself the most comfortable using academic resources since it is what I am used to so that is where I began for this weeks look into my inquiry.
The Many Perspectives
When I picked this topic I was worried that most of the information I found would be euro-centric or western focused which was not what I wanted. I wanted to make sure I was able to consider as many angles and sources of information as possible to try and create a more informative picture of the variety and differences in cultures regarding tattoos and their origins. Luckily from the research I have done so far there is a vast variety of sources covering all kinds of subjects and cultures related to tattoos.
Though there are a lot of materials that are euro-centric in their focus there are also many that focused on topics I had not personally thought of myself until now. This includes topics such as : prison tattoos, gang-related tattoos, tattoos within the LGBTQIA+ community, and many more. One of the topics I found particularly interesting was the an exploration of cultural appropriation through tattoos.
I also found a newspaper article that reported about a museum exhibition dedicated entirely to the history of tattoos through photos. The exhibition ran in Britain back in 2017 and provided information on the cultural origins of tattoos and gave visitors the opportunity to compare their own tattoo styles to ones of the past.
Where To Go From Here
I’ve found a lot of sources to look through and have many topics that I want to explore within them. I plan on sorting these topics into categories that I will then work through for my inquiry. Since there are a lot of sources that look into the history of tattoos from a western point of view I will start there and then move onto the history of tattoos from other cultural views. For my next post focusing on the more western history of tattoos I will look into cultures from Europe, North America, and South America. Then my next post will explore the tattoo cultures from places in Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and New Zealand. Unfortunately this is a huge range of places and diverse cultures to look into, but I am going to do my best to get a respectful and wide look into the unique cultures and traditions present in the many places I will research.
I did find this fun and informative Ted-Ed video on YouTube which covers a some of the historical origins of tattoos and was very interesting. I found it especially interesting that they are called “tattoos” in English because it is a modification of “tatau” a Polynesian word used in Tahiti.
Sources
DeMello, M., & Rubin G.S. “Cultural Roots: The History of Tattooing in the West”, Bodies of Inscription: A Cultural History of the Modern Tattoo Community, 2000.
Deter-Wolf, A., & Diaz-Granados, C. (Eds.). (2013). Drawing with great needles : Ancient tattoo traditions of north america. University of Texas Press.
Ellis, J. (2008). Tattooing the World: Pacific Designs in Print and Skin. New York Chichester, West Sussex: Columbia University Press. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.7312/elli14368
Exhibition draws history of tattoos through the ages. (2017, December 27). Bristol Evening Post (England), pp. 14-15. Available from NewsBank: Access World News: https://infoweb-newsbank-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/apps/news/document-view?p=AWNB&docref=news/16908DF763CE4A50.
Kloß, S.T. (Ed.). (2019). Tattoo Histories: Transcultural Perspectives on the Narratives, Practices, and Representations of Tattooing (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9780429319228
Rees, M. (2021). Tattooing in Contemporary Society: Identity and Authenticity (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/10.4324/9780429295072
emma
February 3, 2022 — 3:03 pm
Hello Lucy,
You’ve done a lot of research! I like the first image in this post–for a moment, I thought, “Did she go through *that many* books already?!” Then I saw the image attribution–and was grateful for it. Now I don’t feel *utterly* outclassed by your scholarship…
I really appreciate how hard you are trying to avoid the Euro-centric lens. It’s definitely something we need to unlearn as a colonialist society. I do hope you do a post on cultural appropriation; I think it would have good insights.
While I appreciate your zeal to find “official” sources, I had a little peak through one of your references at random (specifically, Kloß, 2019), and practically the first page (page 74) had multiple, extensive quotes from one or more personal interviews the author had with a woman identified as “Anna.” For the social sciences in particular, lived experience is an important source of information, which means that good data can be obtained from “just internet sites” and the like, as long as the communication is genuine.
There is nothing wrong with the broad overviews you plan to give, but your original free inquiry post mentioned how you wanted to learn more about why people get tattoos, so I wonder if you would consider going a little out of your comfort zone to seek out those small-scale, individual stories as well.
kstockli
February 5, 2022 — 9:17 pm
Hi Lucy,
Your post was a great overview of the history of tattoos. The video you added was very informative and it was interesting to see how the attitudes around tattoos have changed throughout the years. I thought tattoos were a relatively new thing in Western culture but it seems that is not true.
I relate to you on the academic sources. I personally like the freedom to use whatever sources are suitable because I would never find an academic source on my inquiry.
I am interested to see where this takes you as there are so many cultures and traditions you can explore. It still seems very general so I am looking forward to hearing more details and your personal insight.
-Kasey
reyna
February 9, 2022 — 11:02 am
Hi Lucy,
Thanks for your research! The video was informative and I was impressed to learn about the purposes tattoos had many years ago. Once I heard someone say that his tattoos were a representation of his life and help him remember how lucky he was to be alive! Since then, I have always wondered about the meaning behind some tattoos.
Reyna