(this is definitely too long but no one else has posted so I have no point of reference — so sorry)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In preparation for this class session, we read the Introduction through Chapter 4 of Jane Caplan\u2019s Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History<\/em>. In the introduction, Caplan provides a brief overview of the history of and societal views on tattooing in the West. The book was published in 2000, and marks the beginning of what Caplan cites as a \u201ctattoo renaissance.\u201d As someone who was born after the publishing date, it is interesting to note that I have lived my entire life in this tattoo renaissance. I feel like we might be in another tattoo renaissance right now \u2013 so many people are getting tattoos, as we discussed in our first class meeting, and I often find myself surprised to learn when someone does not have a tattoo. Previous to our first meeting, I also did not know that tattoos had a period of association with circus members; this makes sense, because today it seems like a lot of tattooed people work in the arts, performing or otherwise. On a different note, we looked at some images of tattoos people got after completing the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage, which was especially interesting in light of Caplan and Gustafson\u2019s mentions of people from the Roman Empire getting tattoos after pilgrimages to Jerusalem.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Introduced in depth by C.P. Jones\u2019 chapter on Stigma and Tattoo, the idea of stigma<\/em> and related terms being translated as meaning \u201ctattoo\u201d was surprising to me. As someone who went to Catholic school, we talked about stigmata exclusively as the mirroring of Jesus\u2019 crucifixion wounds on extremely pious people. No one ever explained the origins of the word to me, so I found all the etymological discussions throughout the chapters to be fascinating. Jones also talked at length about the practice of tattooing enslaved people; I thought it was interesting how the connection between enslavement and tattooing drew some ultra-religious people to tattooing as a sign that they were \u201cslaves for God.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Mark Gustafson expands on tattooing for the purpose of punishment in his chapter. Forcing criminals to work in the mines was apparently one of the most common punishments, and also popularized tattooing criminals\u2019 foreheads to represent their crime, punisher, or punishment. These tattoos meant it was nearly impossible for the criminals to return to normal life after their exile in the mines or elsewhere was over; the practice reminds me of the extreme difficulty ex-offenders have finding jobs because of their permanent classification as felons. I had no idea that tattooing for the purpose of punishment is still being used in some places, and did not die out in Europe and the United States until the 19th and 20th centuries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Charles W. MacQuarrie moves out of mainland Europe in his chapter, focusing on the British Isles, and specifically Celtic tattooing. Out of the evidence MacQuarrie presented, I was most struck by the line he pulled from the 8th-century poem The Caldron of Poesy<\/em>, which refers to a man of high status as having a \u201cblue tattooed shank. \u201d The image of a man with a blue, heavily tattooed leg is vivid, and also makes an interesting connection between high social status and tattooing. As we discussed in class, tattooing\u2019s negative connotation in the U.S. is finally fading, so it is cool to see tattooing viewed in a positive light in literature from so long ago. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, I thought Jennipher Allen Rosecrans\u2019 chapter on symbolic tattoos was the most interesting. Rosecrans discussed the tattooing of astrological or other magical signs on the body as a means of controlling one\u2019s fate or achieving some other impossible end. Apparently, both tattooing and temporarily writing symbols on the body were typical in and around the 1600s in England for a variety of reasons; when used for magical purposes, the practice was often condemned by the church. I am sure that many churches today would condemn tattooing for magical purposes, too, because most mainstream religions do not condone the practice of magic, and many religious communities look down upon tattoos. Rosecrans\u2019 chapter also taught me about the many categories of magic practiced during this time period, including natural magic, celestial magic, and intellectual\/angel magic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (this is definitely too long but no one else has posted so I have no point of reference — so sorry) In preparation for this class session, we read the Introduction through Chapter 4 of Jane Caplan\u2019s Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History. In the introduction, Caplan provides a brief […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11910,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11910"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=501"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":503,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/501\/revisions\/503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/ar473-fall2023\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}