Wrapping in Images : Tattooing in Polynesia Paperback / softback
by Alfred (late Reader in Anthropology, late Reader in Anthropology, London School of Economics a Gell
Part of the Oxford Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology - Cultural Forms series
Paperback / softback
Description
Wrapping in Images is the first comparative analysis of tattooing in Polynesia in its original setting, based on a comprehensive survey of both written and visual documentary sources. Drawing on modern social theory, psychoanalysis, and contemporary anthropology, Alfred Gell shows how tattooing formed part of a complex array of symbolic techniques for controlling sacredness and protecting the self.
He uses this framework to examine the iconographic meaning of tattoo motifs, the rich corpus of mythology surrounding tattooing in some Polynesian societies, and the complex rituals associated with the tattoing operation. he also demonstrates how not all ancient Polynesian societies placed an equal emphasis on tattooing, or exploited the basic metaphors in the same way.
Gell's wide-ranging, comparative political analysis shows consistent correlations between forms of political structure and different tattooing institutions, offering a new perspective on Polynesian comparative sociology.
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:358 pages, 35 black and white illustrations
- Publisher:Oxford University Press
- Publication Date:28/03/1996
- Category:
- ISBN:9780198280903
Information
-
Only a few left - usually despatched within 24 hours
- Format:Paperback / softback
- Pages:358 pages, 35 black and white illustrations
- Publisher:Oxford University Press
- Publication Date:28/03/1996
- Category:
- ISBN:9780198280903
