Promotional Information

Tattooing the World is a rich book that explores tattoo as an indigenous form of representation and expression of subjectivity, delving into the complexities of signification and belonging, visual literacy, and contextual understandings of identity formation. The work offers a critical analysis of the politics of display and cultural appropriation, as well as violent extrapolations of tattoo from its original sources, while carefully reading the new forms as they mark new meanings. -- J. Kehaulani Kauanui, associate professor of anthropology and American studies, Wesleyan University

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations Acknowledgments A Note About Pacific Languages Introduction: Living Scripts, Texts, Strategies 1. Tatau and Malu: Vital Signs in Contemporary Samoan Literature 2. "The Original Queequeg"? Te Pehi Kupe, Toi Moko, and Moby-Dick 3. Another Aesthetic: Beauty and Morality in Facial Tattoo 4. Marked Ethics: Erasing and Restoring the Tattoo 5. Locating the Sign: Visible Culture 6. Transfer of Desire: Engendering Sexuality Epilogue: The Question of Belonging Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author

Juniper Ellis is an associate professor of English at Loyola College in Maryland, teaching Maori, Pacific Islands, and US literature. Her research for this book was made possible by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Fulbright Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Reviews

"This fascinating book traces the culture and literature surrounding the curious art that uses skin as a canvas." -- Billy Heller, New York Post