Wrapping in Images

Tattooing in Polynesia

Bibliographic Data

ID2579443
AuthorsC Toren (0000-0002-1722-5869), A F Gell
Year1997
Volume3
Issue3
Pages629
Publication date1997-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeREVIEW
Review ofWrapping in Images: Tattooing in Polynesia, Alfred Gell, 1993
VenueJournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1359-0987 • E-ISSN: 1467-9655
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/3034802
OpenAlexW2045217691
LanguageEN

Wrapping in Images is the first comparative analysis of tattooing in Polynesia in its original setting, based on a comprehensive survey of both written and visual documentary sources. Drawing on modern social theory, psychoanalysis, and contemporary anthropology, Alfred Gell shows how tattooing formed part of a complex array of symbolic techniques for controlling sacredness and protecting the self. He uses this framework to examine the iconographic meaning of tattoo motifs, the rich corpus of mythology surrounding tattooing in some Polynesian societies, and the complex rituals associated with the tattoing operation. he also demonstrates how not all ancient Polynesian societies placed an equal emphasis on tattooing, or exploited the basic metaphors in the same way. Gell's wide-ranging, comparative political analysis shows consistent correlations between forms of political structure and different tattooing institutions, offering a new perspective on Polynesian comparative sociology

Aesthetics · Art · Fashion and Cultural Textiles · Historical Studies of British Isles · History · Tattoo and Body Piercing Complications

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