Written on the Body: The Tattoo in European and American History

by Jane Caplan

Written on the Body surveys the history of the tattoo in Europe and North America from Antiquity to the present. While the subject of tattooing has previously been approached from the viewpoints of anthropology, sociology and cultural studies, this book sets the practice into a historical perspective.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Bodies, Art, Anthropology, Essays

319 pages, Paperback

First published March 21, 2000

Reviews

[Pearl · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was exactly what I wanted. More of exactly this in tattoo books please!!

A collection of academic essays that range from good to excellent, covering everything from Ancient Greece to the tattoo shops of the late 1990’s. I enjoyed the explorations of antiquity, suffered a little during the essay about Australian convicts (I find white Australian history deeply, deeply boring) and learned a few things about freak shows in the essays focused on Americana.

The two essays I most enjoyed were Body Commodification? Class and Tattoos in Victorian Britain by James Bradley, and Inscriptions of the Self: Reflections on Tattooing and Piercing in Contemporary Euro-America by Susan Benson.

Bradley’s essay dives into the craze of tattoos that swept all levels of Victorian society, it’s intertwined-ness with colonialism, cultural appropriation and conspicuous consumption, while giving me truly sparkling phrases like “working class jewellery”. I’ve always adored the Victorians and their weird-ass morals — and their love of tattoos (promoted by everyone from Prince Albert to Tattler magazine editorials) just confirms that they lived in one of the weirdest times in history.

Benson’s essay on the other hand, takes a look at where tattooing was at in her today (late 90s I think). It goes into what makes the Western concept of a body— something to control, something that in the end lets us down— in relation to modifications we make on it. This essay really touched me, as she articulates a lot of the frailties of the Platonic human experience in her exploration of why we get tattoos. She also examines the way tattooing’ s own history is often hidden from its practitioners and wearers, with everyone picking and choosing what heritage they want for the craft.

If I were to ever write about tattooing, this essay would be my touchstone.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this years ago and just decided to read it again last year when I found it in a box of stuff. Details the history of the tattoo, and specifically, women who have tattoos.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of essays reviews and analyses the history of tattooing across Europe and North America from its earliest days to its modern development and contemporary almost acceptance. It turns out that this history is far more diverse and widespread than expected, even as someone with a few and being part of the community of artists through my hours sat in the chair. This collection shows how tattooing has been used by those in power to mark those they deem undesirable but also how those and other groups embraced the art and made it their own, even using it to defy those that tried to control them. There are of course essays on the prevalence of tattoos within the entertainment industry particularly in the 19th and 20th Centuries and how this changed in various countries between and after wars. The final essays address how the perception of tattoos has and has not changed over the 20th Century and how it has become an art in its own right as well as a means for the individual to express themselves and make themselves known. Each of the essays is supported by various sources including numerous photos and illustrations, which I would've preferred to see in colour, as well as written sources from the time, the latter albeit with one or two caveats depending on the purpose of the writing and the view of the author.

[Magdalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, especially from a research perspective!

[Martine Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an academic set of essays that examines the tattoo in various contexts, from the Roman Empire to contemporary Euro-America.
I’m particularly interested in Cook and the spread of Polynesian tattoos but found that particular chapter disappointing, save for a wonderful snippet about a mess from Cook’s crew secretly copying the Bora Borans by tattooing stars on their left breasts and calling themselves ‘The Knights of Otaheite’. A few of this crew later joined the Bounty mutiny and one character tattooed a parody of the Knight’s garter around his leg, a rebellious gesture typical of the ‘outsider’ tattoo culture.

The essay on Australian convicts is of interest, as all transported convicts had their bodily marks including tattoos recorded by ship’s surgeons, giving us huge insights into an otherwise hidden culture of religious and emotional expression. It is impossible to be unmoved by some of the descriptions, for example of death pacts between convicts in the hell on earth of Van Dieman’s land.

In the west we live in a culture that seems to see tattoos as an expression of personal creativity, the skin as a personal art space (and yet a commodity often purchased from a tattoo artist’s set of designs...) It was interesting therefore to see a cautionary tale in the essay on Victorian tattoos – a grisly photograph of syphilis erupting through a soldier’s tattoo, part of a mass outbreak caused by an infected needle.

There are some wonderful illustrations and fascinating text, but my fundamental problem with this book is the pretentious language of contemporary academia. Some essays escape this, but others are so overwrought that they lose all meaning in their attempts to sound incredibly clever – or not, if you believe great writing is all about clarity and lucidity.

[Missweneki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent history of tattooing and why it was done and is still done today.

[Imen Stitches · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very text book-y. Very informative if you are interested in the subject.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book on the history of tattooing