Synopses & Reviews
Whether fully adorning a bikerandrsquo;s arms or nestled cutely, and discretely, above oneandrsquo;s ankle, tattoos are a commonplace part of modern fashion and expression. But as modern as this permanent accessory can seem, the tattoo, in fact, has ancient and distant roots in Oceana, where it had been practiced for centuries before being taught to Western seafarers. This collection offers both a fascinating look at the early exchanges between European and Pacific cultures surrounding the tattoo and the tattooandrsquo;s rising popularity in the West up to the modern day. It is also the first book to thoroughly document the history of tattoos in Oceana itself.
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The essays here first document the complex cultural interactions between Oceana and Europe that had sailors, whalers, and explorers bringing tattoos home from their voyages. They then move on to issues surrounding encounter, representation, and exchange, exploring the ways missionaries and the colonial state influenced local tattoo practices, and the ways tattoo culture has since developed, both in the West and the Pacific. Stunningly illustrated, this unique and fascinating history will appeal to anyone interested in the history of tattoos, the culture of Oceania, or native arts.and#160;
Review
andldquo;A definitive history about Pacific tattooing and its influence around the tattoo world. Meticulously researched and beautifully presented, the book is highly recommended.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;This historically rigorous and theoretically nuanced collection of essays [is] indispensable to students of world systems of art and culture.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Say "body modifications" and most people think of tattoos and piercings. They associate these mainly with the urban primitives of the 1980s to today and with primitive tribes. In fact, as this fascinating book shows, body mods have been on the scene since ancient times, traceable as far back as 1.5 million years, and they also encompass sacrification, branding, and implants. Professor John Rush outlines the processes and procedures of these radical physical alterations, showing their function as rites of passage, group identifiers, and mechanisms of social control. He explores the use of pain for spiritual purposes, such as purging sin and guilt, and examines the phenomenon of accidental cuts and punctures as individual events with sometimes profound implications for group survival. Spiritual Tattoo finds a remarkable consistency in body modifications from prehistory to the present, suggesting the importance of the body as a sacred geography from both social and psychological points of view.
Synopsis
The popularity of tattoos today is a revival of a practice begun in the late eighteenth century, when Westerners first made contact with the native peoples of the Pacific. The term and#8220;tattooand#8221; entered Europe with the publication of Captain Cookand#8217;s voyages in the 1770s, and Pacific tattoos became fashionable in the West as sailors, whalers, and explorers brought home tattoos from Tahiti, the Marquesas, New Zealand, and Polynesia. In recent years these early contacts have been revived, as native tattooists from Oceania have begun tattooing non-Polynesians in Europe, the USA, and elsewhere.
Tattoo is both a fascinating book about these early Oceanic-European exchanges, which also documents developments up to the present day. Documenting these complex cultural interactions in the first part of the book, the authors move from issues of encounter, representation, and exchange to the interventions of missionaries and the colonial state in local tattoo practices. Highly illustrated with many previously unseen images, for example the original voyage sketches of the first Russian circumnavigation of 1803and#8211;6, this is a fascinating account of early tattooing and cultural exchange in Oceania.
About the Author
Nicholas Thomas is Director of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge. He has published extensively and won many awards in the field of cross-cultural research in both the UK and Australia. Dr. Martin Fitzpatrick (retired) was formerly Senior Lecturer at the Department of History and Welsh History, University of Wales, Aberystwyth. He has published widely on eighteenth-century literature, Jenny Newell is Assistant Curator, Pacific and Australian Collection, Department of Ethnography, British Museum and has contributed to a number of publications on eighteenth-century travel/exploration.
Anna Cole is research coordinator of the Tatau/Tatoo project at Goldsmiths College, London.Bronwen Douglas is adjunct associate professor in the Department of Pacific and Asian History at the Australian National University.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Nicholas Thomas
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Part One: Histories and Encounters
1. andlsquo;Cureous Figuresandrsquo;: European Voyagers and Tatau/Tattoo in Polynesia, 1595-1800
Bronwen Douglas
2. andlsquo;Speckled Bodiesandrsquo;: Russian Voyagers and Nuku Hivans, 1804
Elena Govor
3. Marks of Transgression: The Tattooing of Europeans in the Pacific Islands
Joanna White
4. Christian Skins: Tatau and the Evangelization of the Society Islands and Samoa
Anne Dandrsquo;Alleva
5. Governing Tattoo: Reflections on a Colonial Trial
Anna Cole
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Part Two: Contemporary Exchanges
6. The Temptation of Brother Anthony: Decolonization and the Tattooing of Tony Fomison
Peter Brunt
7. Samoan Tatau as Global Practice
Sean Mallon
8. Multiple Skins: Space, Time and Tattooing in Tahiti
Makiko Kuwahara
9. Wearing Moko: Maori Facial Marking in Todayandrsquo;s World
Linda Waimarie Nikora, Mohi Rua and Ngahuia Te Awekotuku
10. Beyond Modern Primitivism
Cyril Siorat
Epilogue: Embodied Exchanges and their Limits
Nicholas Thomas
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References
Select Bibliography
Notes on the Editors and Contributors
Acknowledgements
Photographic Acknowledgements
Index
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