Description - Wrapping in Images by Alfred Gell
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.
Buy Wrapping in Images by Alfred Gell from Australia's Online Independent Bookstore, BooksDirect.
A Preview for this title is currently not available.
No Stock on Hand, Supplier Has No Due Date for Supply.
Metamorphosis of the Cassowaries: Umeda Society, Language and Ritual Volume 51
The Anthropology of Time: Cultural Constructions of Temporal Maps and Images
