| Description |
xi, 347 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm |
| Series |
Oxford studies in social and cultural anthropology |
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Oxford studies in social and cultural anthropology.
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| Contents |
1. Theoretical Introduction. 1.1.1. The Problem Defined. 1.1.2. 'Polynesia'. 1.1.3. Social Reproduction and Tattooing. 1.2.1. The Sailor and the Native. 1.2.2. Taste and Degeneracy. 1.2.3. The Epidemiology of Tattooing. 1.2.4. Core Metaphor, Divergent Readings. 1.3.1. The Skin as a Symbolic Form. 1.3.2. Anzieu: The Skin-Ego. 1.3.3. The Basic Schema of Tattooing -- 2. Western Polynesia and Fiji. 2.2. Samoan Politics and Alliance. 2.3.1. Stair on the Samoan Tattooing Ceremony. 2.3.2. Political Drama; The Passive Hero. 2.4.1. The Myth of the Siamese Twins. 2.4.2. The Neutral Party. 2.4.3. Tattooing and 'Foreignness'. 2.4.4. Nafanua. 2.4.5. Why Siamese Twins? 2.4.6. Siamese Twins and Incest. 2.5.1. Vitian Tattooing. 2.5.2. Sociological Interpretation of the Samoa-Viti Gender Switch. 2.5.3. Defloration versus Tattooing. 2.5.4. The Malu Design. 2.6.1. Tattooing, Wrapping, and Divestment. 2.6.2. Tattooing and Childbirth, the Sealing of the Pute. 2.6.3. Samoan Tattoo Iconography. 2.7.1. Tongan Tattoo. 2.7.2. Vae the Beautiful, Vae the Face-Wounder. 2.7.3. 'Court' versus 'Demotic' Tattooing in Tonga. 2.7.4. The Tui Manu'a. 2.7.5. The Kaeppler-Kirch Model of Western Polynesian Exchange. 2.7.6. Explanation and Critique of the Kaeppler-Kirch Model -- 3. The Society Islands. 3.2.1. Cosmology and Hierarchy. 3.2.2. Amo'a: Contagion and Sacrifice. 3.3.1. Moahi Tattooing. 3.3.2. Interpretation: Tattooing and Amo'a (Desanctification). 3.4. Tattooing and Incest: The Moahi Tattooing Myth. 3.5.1. The Arioi Cult. 3.5.2. The Arioi as 'Sacrifices' to 'Oro -- 4. The Marquesas. 4.2.1. 'Devolved' Hierarchy. 4.2.2. Tapu Rules and Grades. 4.2.3. The Conservation and Dispersion of 'Difference'. 4.2.4. Pahupahu: 'Wrapping' for the Child. 4.2.5. 'Closure' and 'Multiplicity'. 4.3. 'Rupture' and Immortality: Marquesan Mythology. 4.4. Marquesan Tattoo Iconography. 4.5.1. The Marquesan Tattooing Ceremony. 4.5.2. Ka'ioi/Arioi/Aumanga. 4.5.3. 'Shitty Snout'. 4.5.4. The Opou. 4.5.5. Feasting Societies and Tattooing. 4.6. The Non-Tattooing of the Chief of Ua Pou. 4.7.1. Iotete's Demurrer. 4.7.2. The Flaying of Iotete -- 5. Mangareva. 5.1. Mangarevan Society: Encompassment Preserved. 5.2.1. Fattening and Tattooing. 5.2.2. Mangarevan Tattooing -- 6. Outer Eastern Polynesia. 6.1.1. New Zealand: Introduction. 6.1.2. Maori Society. 6.2.1. Maori moko: Some Preliminaries. 6.2.2. The Operation. 6.2.3. Contrasting Styles: 'Classic' moko versus moko kuri. 6.3.1. Tattooing Mythology: Irawaru. 6.3.2. Tattooing Mythology: Mataora and Ina. 6.4.1. Non-Tattooed Maori: Tohunga. 6.4.2. Female Tattooing and Inviolability. 6.4.3. The Moriri -- 'A veru tapu people'. 6.5.1. Easter Island: Introduction. 6.5.2. Easter Island Tattooing. 6.6.1. Hawaii: A Feudal Polity. 6.6.2. Hawaiian Tattoo. 6.6.3. The Distribution of Hawaiian Tattoo. 6.6.4. The Corruption and Decay of Hawaiian Tattoo -- 7. The Epidemiology of Polynesian Tattooing: Concluding Comments. 7.2.1. The Classification of Polynesian Societies. 7.2.2. The Plane of Tattooing. 7.3.1. On Non-Tattooing. 7.3.2. The Slope on the Plane of Tattooing. 7.4.1. The Basic Schema of Tattooing and its Diverse Thematizations. 7.4.2. The Analysis of Variations |
| Summary |
In traditional Polynesian societies, tattooing played a key role in the social construction of the person. This study is the first to provide a comparative analysis of tattooing in its original setting, based on a comprehensive survey of the documentary sources, both written and visual. Drawing on modern social theory, psychoanalysis, and contemporary anthropological studies of Polynesia, Alfred Gell demonstrates that tattooing formed part of a complex array of symbolic techniques for controlling sacredness and protecting the self. This framework is used to elucidate the iconographic meaning of tattoo motifs, as well as the rich corpus of mythology surrounding tattooing in certain Polynesian societies, and the complex rituals associated with the tattooing operation. However, not all ancient Polynesian societies placed an equal emphasis on tattooing, and not all exploited the basic metaphors of tattooing in the same way. Dr Gell provides a wide-ranging comparative political analysis of the main Polynesian societies in order to show consistent correlations between forms of political structure and different tattooing institutions. In this way, Wrapping in Images can be read as a general introduction to Polynesian comparative sociology, viewed from the perspective of body symbolism |
| Analysis |
Humans Skin Decoration |
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Polynesia |
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Humans Skin Decoration |
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Polynesia |
| Notes |
Bibliography: p333-342. - Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages [333]-342) and index |
| Subject |
Art and anthropology -- Polynesia.
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Art and anthropology.
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Human body -- Social aspects -- Polynesia.
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Marriage -- Polynesia.
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Symbolism in art -- Polynesia.
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Symbolism in art.
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Tattooing -- Polynesia.
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| SUBJECT |
Polynesia http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85104688 -- Social life and customs. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh2001008851
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| LC no. |
93001780 |
| ISBN |
0198278691 |
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0198280904 |
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