Tattoo Narratives: Insights Into Multispecies Kinship and Griefwork

Abstract

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Animal-Themed Tattoo Narratives: Insights into Ontological Perspectives

“…Furthermore, participants did not use animals simply as abstract ideas to "think with," but also to also "think about" animal others with respect, love, and admiration. Contrary to my previous analysis of tattoos dedicated to individual companion animals (Hill, 2020), the animal-themed tattoos in the current study depict a collective identity. Rather than reflecting a special bond shared with a nonhuman person, some of the narratives discussed here represent bonds to entire species that are based on interactions with multiple members of that species.…”

“…Data collection took place between March and June 2018, and recruitment of participants ran concurrently from March 2018 until the final interview took place. Recruitment occurred as part of a larger project that included tattoos dedicated to an individual animal (Hill, 2020) as well as species representations. Social media recruitment consisted of open posts on Facebook and Twitter (using accounts specifically used for academic purposes and identifying myself as a research student) that provided a short explanation of my research interest, followed by an invitation for potential participants to volunteer themselves: Do you have an animal-themed tattoo, or a design honoring a special animal?…”

“…I started with an open question along the lines of "tell me about your tattoo," and allowed participants to take the lead in sharing whatever they felt comfortable with. Previously, I performed a discourse analysis of narratives constructed around tattoos that commemorate relationships with a companion animal, using theoretic frameworks of multispecies families and griefwork (Hill, 2020). In the current study I examine tattoo narratives associated with designs that represent an entire species and explore the various ways in which people raised in "Western" culture relate to other animals.…”

Tattoos and Information: Mapping the Landscape of Tattoo Research

“…Narratives and memory tattoos as literacy artifacts (Kirkland, 2009), as culturally acquired “sign vehicles” (Kosut, 2000), and as “bodily writing” which may need to be both interpreted and translated (Lei, 2009; Sullivan, 2001) tattoos as means to negotiate memory, trauma, mourning and memorializing the dead (Brouwer & Horowitz, 2015; Davidson, 2017; Dyvik & Welland, 2018; Hill, 2020; Steadman et al, 2019) …”

“…• religious and ethnic identification (Meinardus, 1972), pilgrimage tattoos (Diktaş, 2020;Kurrat & Heiser, 2020); trade or artisan tattoos (Caplan, 2010;Newman, 1998), immigrants tattoos (Hiramoto, 2015) • identity formation and communication among prisoners (DeMello, 1993;McCarron, 2008;Phelan & Hunt, 1998;Shoham, 2009;Vegrichtová, 2018) Narratives and memory • tattoos as literacy artifacts (Kirkland, 2009), as culturally acquired 'sign vehicles' (Kosut, 2000), and as 'bodily writing' which may need to be both interpreted and translated (Lei, 2009;Sullivan, 2001) • tattoos as means to negotiate memory, trauma, mourning and memorializing the dead (Brouwer & Horowitz, 2015;Davidson, 2017;Dyvik & Welland, 2018;Hill, 2020;Steadman et al, 2019) Theme 3: Tattoos Information Seeking and Presentation Through Archives and Libraries…”