Data Loading...
The Rhetoric of Ink Revision Flipbook PDF
The Rhetoric of Ink Revision
112 Views
51 Downloads
FLIP PDF 25.08MB
The Rhetoric of Ink Ivestigating Tattoos in Terms of Rhetorical Concepts
Table of Contents Visual Rhetoric Rhetorical Concepts:
Page 1 Pages 2 and 3
Identity Narrative Story Audience
Cultural Tattoos
Page 4
Gang Tattoos
Page 5
Prison Tattoos
Page 6
Memorial Tattoos
Page 7
Cancer/Scar Cover-up Tattoos
Page 8
Conclusion
Page 9
References
Pages 10and 11
Visual Rhetoric Upon hearing the term rhetoric, most people think of stories, speeches, and essays. They think of manipulation and persuasion within spoken and written language. What they do not realize though is that tattoos are just as rhetorical as speeches given by politicians. Visual Rhetoric is a subfield of rhetoric that focuses on the study of visual texts and their role in our culture. Tattoos are included in visual culture because “ Tattoos are an extension of one’s personality, beliefs, and identity; by that they are permanent pieces of rhetoric through the invention, arrangement, style, memory, and delivery it took to create the art” (Taylor 2010).
Page 1
Narrative and Identity Narrative:
LIZ JONES
Tattoos tell the World we've still got something to say
In “Narrative Inquiry and New Materialism: Stories as (Not Necessarily Benign) Agents”, Jimmy Snyder and Jerry Lee Rosiek describe one meaning of narrative as an unfolding of events in our life. Corder describes narratives as something that each is, and they work to create and define the worlds in which we hold our beliefs. He explains that we create the narratives that we are since we always are standing some place in our lives and that there is always a tale about how we can to stand where we are. He says that narratives are human, and that we always invent narratives that are our lives because the narrative is created whenever we speak to others or ourselves since choices are already made when we use language and choose what words and statements to make. Thus, narratives also include all the choices, accidental and purposeful, that we have made.
Identity: Identity is widely described as the characteristics that determine who or what a person is. Many also explain identity encompassing the memories, experiences, relationships, and values that create one’s sense of self. In Jim Corder’s article “Argument as Emergence, Rhetoric as Love,” identity is defined as being made up of our beliefs and our narratives. Therefore, tattoos become part of our identity because the tattoos can portray our beliefs and narratives and can symbolize changes in our narrative like important events or represent cultural beliefs or even membership to certain communities.
Page 2
Stories shape how we understand the world, our place in it, and our ability to change it. They are meant to teach us lessons and to help us understand and make sense of things that we do not understand. Stories are shaped by our culture and human interactions, and in turn we shape then when we hear or see them. They are also rhetorical when they are told by humans because all humans have bias, opinions, and perceptions that are shaped by our individual experiences. Stories are also used to change systems because they have the ability to make, embellish, or tear down systems of power. This means that they can inspire action, and some people choose to act through getting tattoos. Additionally, tattoos are stories because they are also shaped by our material world, our thoughts about the world, and our personal experiences.
Audience:
Story:
Traditionally, Covino and Jolliffe explain that audience refers to people who hear a speech or performance. There are also primary audiences, who are the rhetor’s target group and a second audience which consists of people who also see the rhetor’s work but were not the target group. Thus, the rhetor and audience are seen as two different roles, but in the case of tattoos, someone could occupy both spaces. This is because the tattooee is the one who chooses the tattoo and what story the tattoo is meant to told. Sometimes, the tattoo is only meant to be understood or even seen by the tattooee, which also makes them the audience. In other cases where the tattoos are visible, the primary audience is still the tattooee but the secondary audience becomes the people who can see the tattoo and make judgements or speculations on what it is and what the meaning of the ink is. Page 3
Cultural Tattoos
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/inuit-womentraditional-tattoos-kugluktuk-1.35634463/
https://tahititourisme.com/en-us/tahitiactivities/popular-experiences/polynesian-tattoosorigins-and-meaning/t
Some tattoos are created because they are important to a specific culture. These tattoos can help someone grow their cultural identity and narrative as well as connect them to others within their community. In “Polynesian Tattoos-Origin and Meaning”, it explains that evidence of Polynesian tattoos has dated to over two thousand years ago, and that in the past these tattoos were an easy way to identify where a Polynesian person was from since each island in Tahiti had specific designs. These tattoos also expressed someone’s rank, personality, work, family, and personal passions, making them function as communication and someone’s story. In “Women Finding Inuit Identity and Connections through Traditional Tattoos,” author Rajnesh Sharma examines traditional Inuit tattoos that are being created in modern times. She explains how someone Inuit women are seeking traditional tattoos as a way to honor their family, develop deeper relationships with their culture, and to carve out a sense of identity as an Inuit woman. Thus, not only do these culturally significant tattoos help individuals to grow their identity, but they also give opportunity for expression of narratives in an exposed way, and their tattoos are an open book if the audience knows how to read them. Page 4
Gang Tattoos When it comes to gangs and tattoos, ink is seen as the ultimate way to prove loyalty and commitment. According to "Interpreting Gang Tattoos,” tattoos are a form of communication, and they usually have some indicator that shows what gang someone is a member of and what their status is. In “Prison Gang Members Tattoos as Identity Work: The Visual Communication of Moral Careers,” authors Pehlan and Hunt focus on tattoos from the Nuestra Familia Gang that operates out of Northern California. Not only do their tattoos identity members, but also signify past achievements, present status, specializations, and possible future behavior. Overall, they represent the members personal narrative and where they are currently standing within it. Thus, these tattoos tell a story about someone’s life within a gang. They clearly convey a narrative about one’s actions, beliefs, and truths, if you know how to read them. Page 5
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan_Brotherhood
https://www.corrections1.com/prison-gangs/articles/15-prisontattoos-and-their-meanings-pzgKItC7WYoa1wvk/
https://www.corrections1.com/prison-gangs/articles/15prison-tattoos-and-their-meanings-pzgKItC7WYoa1wvk/
https://www.corrections1.com/prison-gangs/articles/15-prisontattoos-and-their-meanings-pzgKItC7WYoa1wvk/
https://www.businessinsider.com/what-prison-tattoosmean-2016-1
Prison Tattoos https://www.pinterest.com/pin/437904763745540698/
Prison tattoos are another category of ink that displays the rhetorical elements of narrative, identity, story, and audience. In “Prison Tattoos as a Reflection of the Criminal Lifestyle,” authors Lozano, Morgan, Murray, and Varghese study the relationship between prison tattoos and the criminal lifestyle. They explain that tattoos can serve as examples of the inmates’ psyche and identity, and that they are extremely popular because it gives inmates a way to express and solidify their personal identity within a place where humanism and identity is often stripped away. There are even some tattoos that are unique to the prison community that indicate someone is a criminal, like spider webs, faceless clocks, or dots in a specific pattern. The researchers also found that inmates with prison tattoos tend to act out more and receive a higher number of disciplinary infractions. This is because many prison tattoos indicate a long sentence, so these inmates likely believe they will never leave the criminal lifestyle behind. Thus, they don’t anticipate a change in their narrative, and they are committed to their dentity as a felon and criminal. Page 6
Memorial Tattoos Memorial tattoos are highly emotional and personal pieces of art. They are often created in order to pay respect to someone who has passed away, whether that be a parent, sibling, or friend. Cynthia McCloud explores this genre of tattooing in “Tattoos Memorialize Life, Loss” and speaks to Kim Wolfe about her memorial tattoo. She says that she wears her heart on her sleeve because her arm is tattooed with a tiny set of footprints that symbolize her miscarriages and explains that her tattoo makes her loss real. In “American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning,” author Kate Sweeney speaks with Sarah Peacock, a tattoo artist located in North Carolina. She believes that there is nothing more permanent than a tattoo and that nothing is more symbolic than choosing to permanently etch skin in memorial to someone else. Sarah tells Sweeney that for some clients, getting the tattoo is their last stage of letting go and processing emotions after death. Thus, through memorial tattoos, people are given the opportunity to visually acknowledge someone who was part of their narrative.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/57209857742162648/
https://designzzz.com/memorial-tattoos/
Page 7
Cancer/Scar Cover-up Tattoos https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/876017
MARGO DEMELLO
Tattoos fulfill a need to inscribe the self as an individual
https://www.inkedmag.com/original-news/tattoo-artistchanges-the-lives-of-people-who-self-harm-with-free-tattoos
In more recent years, many tattoo artists have been helping clients cover scars or disfigurations in their skin with beautiful images. In “Narrative and Identity: Studies in Autobiography, Self, and Culture,” author Kristen Langellier explores the use of tattooing to cover scars from breast cancer in her chapter “’You’re Marked’ Breast Cancer, Tattoo, and the Narrative Performance of Identity.” Langellier says breast cancer is a visually marked illness and can leave survivors feeling like they have no control over their bodies. Tattooing gives them back their choice and power, and the ink allows them to visually express that cancer is only a moment in their narrative, not their entire story. Tattoos are also being used to cover self-harm scars. This is explored in Karen Longwell’s article “Tattoo Artists Covers Scars from SelfHarm Abuse: Nickola Koukla from Cobourg Says her Work is a Way to Give a Person a Second Chance.” Koukla is a tattoo artist from Vancouver who works with clients that have scars from mental health conditions that led to physical self-harm. Whether from cancer or self-harm, it is clear that scars can make someone feel like they do not have control in their life. With tattooing though, one can see that it gives survivors more than just a pretty design. Tattoos give them back their identity and allows them to accept tragedy as a portion of their narrative. They also grant survivors the ability to bond with each other over their art and can help them feel comfortable with sharing their story. Page 8
Conclusion Overall, it has been made clear that tattoos are a form of visual rhetoric. As permanent images on our skin, they convey our truths to our audience. These truths are tied to our identity and our narratives, and we express them to viewers through the stories that our tattoos tell or hold. Ink tells a story, not matter how simple or complex. They help us to convey our culture, lifestyles, and our hardships right on our skin. Additionally, they are clear examples of storytelling because every single tattoo has a story behind it or convey a story with the imagery. After examining all these different kinds of tattoos, I am inspired to think more closely about my tattoos and how I will continue my personal story through ink in the future.
Page 9
References Berry, Helen M. “The Rhetoric of Modern Ink.” Digital Commons at Humboldt State University, 2019. https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/ideafest_posters/126/. Bragg, Rachel L.. "Aristotle's Ink: Tattooing a New Understanding of Invention in Collaborative Writing." dissertation, English, Old Dominion University, 2016. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), dissertation. DOI: 10.25777/pbyf-9686 https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/english_etds/13 Brown, Kelly A, McKimmie, Blake M, and Zarkadi, Theodora. "The Defendant with the Prison Tattoo: The Effect of Tattoos on Mock Jurors’ Perceptions." Psychiatry, Psychology, and Law 25, no. 3 (2018): 386-403. Brockmeier, Jens, and Carbaugh, Donal. Narrative and Identity. Studies in Narrative. Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2001. Covino, William, and David A. Jolliffe. “Rhetoric: Concepts, Definitions, Boundaries.” College Composition and Communication 46, no. 3 (1995): 457. https://doi.org/10.2307/358722.
Ellis, Juniper. Tattooing the World : Pacific Designs in Print and Skin. New York, NY: Columbia University Press, 2008.
Goodwin, John. "Prison Tattoos as a Reflection of the Criminal Lifestyle." SAGE Biographical Research 55, no. 4 (2012): D1e154820a1048964-529.
Longwell, Karen. "Tattoo Artist Covers Scars from Self-harm, Abuse; Nickola Koukla, from Cobourg, Says Her Work Is a Way to Give a Person a Second Chance." Toronto Star (Toronto, Ont), 2018.
Page 10
References McCloud, Cynthia. "TATTOOS MEMORIALIZE LIFE, LOSS." The State Journal 32, no. 13 (2016): 5. Phelan, Michael P, and Hunt, Scott A. "Prison Gang Members' Tattoos as Identity Work: The Visual Communication of Moral Careers." Symbolic Interaction 21, no. 3 (1998): 277-98. Riley, William. "Interpreting Gang Tattoos." Corrections Today 68, no. 2 (2006): 46.
Saltmarshe, Ella. “Using Story to Change Systems (SSIR).” Stanford Social Innovation Review, February 20, 2018. https://viahtml3.hypothes.is/proxy/https://ssir.org/articles/entry/using_sto ry_to_change_systems. Schildkrout, Enid. “Inscribing the Body.” Annual Reviews, June 11, 2004. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/abs/10.1146/annurev.anthro.33.070203 .143947. Sharma, Rajnesh. “Women Finding Inuit Identity and Connections through Traditional Tattoos.” Nunavut News, March 9, 2020. https://nunavutnews.com/nunavut-news/women-finding-inuit-identity-andconnections-through-traditional-tattoos/.
Sweeney, Kate. "Sarah Peacock, Memorial Tattoo Artist." In American Afterlife, 29. University of Georgia Press, 2014. Taylor, Susan. “Rhetorical Empowerment: Tattoos & Body Piercings as Visual Rhetoric of Resistance.” Web log. Blogspot.com (blog), August 8, 2010. http://rhetoricofsusan.blogspot.com/.
Ungar, and Laura. "'Beautiful' Tattoos Cover Breast Cancer Scars." Courier-journal (Louisville, Ky. : 1869 : Daily) (Louisville, Ky), 2015.
Page 11