Stories in the flesh: Reading cultural narratives of tattooing in America
Abstract
Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this work analyzes literary, theoretical, anthropological, and popular texts in conjunction with field research in order to “read” American cultural narratives of tattoo and the proms of tattooing. My thesis is that the tattooed body is both an object and a subject actively writing to, from, and in collaboration with its culture around a host of body-related issues, including cultural definitions of gender, ethnicity, and class; interpellation of citizens and criminals; going to war; immigrant nostalgia and community building; and desires for artistic expression. By engaging theories of subjectivity, identification, transgression, performance, and the body, this work contributes to contemporary debates concerning the role of the imagination in shaping the body.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Dienst, Purdue University.
Subject Area
American studies
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