Embodying dependency

Caribbean godna (tattoos) as female subordination and resistance

Bibliographic Data

ID2285285
AuthorsSinah Theres Kloß (0000-0001-7990-9329, University of Bonn, corresponding author)
Year2022
Volume27
Issue4
Pages601-612
Publication date2022-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1935-4932 • E-ISSN: 1935-4940
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/jlca.12644
OpenAlexW4313332131
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited36

A tattoo has not one but multiple meanings, depending on the person and interpretations within a sociocultural context. To demonstrate, this article focuses on tattoo marks labeled godna in Suriname and Guyana and on their related tattooing practices. Godnas can be found among senior Hindu women, and can be interpreted as marks of subordination and resistance. They inscribe and actively (re)create asymmetrical power relations and embody different dimensions of dependency. Relating to the notion of service, they reinstate women's subalternized positionalities in socioreligious relationships and recreate experiences thereof, especially regarding husbands and in-laws, gurus, and deities. However, they may also become a means of subverting patriarchal hierarchy and challenging colonial and orthodox religious structures

Archaeology · Colonialism · Context (archaeology · Dependency (UML · Hierarchy · Linguistics · Political science · Power (physics · Resistance (ecology · Sociocultural evolution · Sociology · Subordination (linguistics · Anthropology · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Computer Science · Gender Studies · History · Law · Philosophy · Sex work and related issues · Tattoo and Body Piercing Complications

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