Tattoo Narratives. The Intersection of the Body, Self-Identity and Society.

Abstract: Drawing upon Frank's (1995: The Wounded Storyteller:
Body, Illness and Ethics) discussion of the personal and social
aspects of embodied stoytelling, this paper considers the tattoo
as a form of visual communication created within a multiplicity
of contexts. Based on in-depth interviews with 8 tattooed men and
women, the focus of this article is the stories that these
individuals tell about their tattoos. ASrgues is that the
tattooed body is a distinctively communicative body. It has a
great deal to say, not only about the identity of the wearer, but
also about the culture in which she lives. The author concludes
with some refelctions on examining the tattoo as a conecptual
latch-key - a tool that may enable researchers to begin to unlock
the complicated relationship between the body, self-identity and
society.