Tattoos as Personal Narrative

................................................................................................................ v Introduction ........................................................................................................... 1 Section 1: The Sociogenesis of Tattoos in the United States .................................... 4 Section 2: The Erosion of Tradition and the Rise of The Individual in Modernity ... 22 Section 3: The Modernist View of the Self ............................................................. 28 Time and Memory ........................................................................................ 29 Self as Narrative ............................................................................................ 30 Section 4: The Postmodern View of the Self .......................................................... 37 The Saturated Self in Postmodernity ............................................................... 39 The Body as Means of Control ....................................................................... 45 Section 5: Methodology ........................................................................................ 49 Section 6: Findings ............................................................................................... 63 Remembering ............................................................................................... 65 Tattoos as Anchors for the Self ...................................................................... 71 Describing the Role of Tattoos Through Metaphor ........................................ 74 A Critical Distinction in the Role of Tattoos ................................................. 77 Perceptions of the Self ................................................................................... 80 Multiple Identities ......................................................................................... 80 Multiple Ways of Describing Identity ............................................................ 84 Narrating the Self .......................................................................................... 90 Gender and Racial Analysis .......................................................................... 94 Section 7: Limitations and Implications for Future Study ...................................... 97 Section 8: Conclusion ......................................................................................... 100 Bibliography ....................................................................................................... 103 Appendices ........................................................................................................ 108 Vita .................................................................................................................... 114