Becoming Heavily Tattooed in the Postmodern West: Sacred Rite

Becoming heavily tattooed in the postmodern West: sacred rite, 'Modern Primitivism', or profane simulation? by Fareed Kaviani Thesis submitted as partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) Sociology, Anthropology and International Development Department of Social Inquiry La Trobe University October 2017 1 Statement of Authorship This thesis is my own work containing, to the best of my knowledge and belief, no material published or written by another person except as referred to in the text. 18 / 10 / 17 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my supervisor, Sara James, for her generous support, patience, time and knowledge, and Anthony Moran, for his tireless administrative assistance. 2 Contents Abstract ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1 .................................................................................................................................. 11 Premodern Tatau and Tattoo: The Makings of the ‘Noble Savage’ ........................................ 11 Premodern Tatau ................................................................................................................. 11 Rite of Passage and Sacredness ........................................................................................... 12 Premodern European Tattoo ............................................................................................... 15 The Beginnings of Modernity and the Noble Savage .......................................................... 18 Christian Sacredness ............................................................................................................ 20 Tattoo as Savage .................................................................................................................. 22 Chapter 2 .................................................................................................................................. 24 Postmodernity, the Tattoo Renaissance, and the Modern Primitives .................................... 24 Postmodernity...................................................................................................................... 25 An Incredulity Toward the Grand Narrative ........................................................................ 26 The Tattoo Renaissance ....................................................................................................... 28 Western Primitivism ............................................................................................................ 32 The Modern Primitives ........................................................................................................ 33 Perceptions of the Modern Primitives ................................................................................. 35 The Western Noble Savage .................................................................................................. 37 The Extent of the Modern Primitive Movement ................................................................. 40 New Sacredness ................................................................................................................... 43 Chapter 3 .................................................................................................................................. 45 Beyond the Primitive: Postmodern Rite and Sacred Pain ....................................................... 45 Profane Simulations ............................................................................................................. 46 Postmodern Rite .................................................................................................................. 49 Sacred Pain ........................................................................................................................... 55 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 61 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................. 66 3 Abstract The publication Modern Primitives: an investigation of contemporary adornment & ritual (Vale & Juno 1989) introduced Western audiences to niche body modification practices, aesthetics, and philosophies, through interviews with a variety of American practitioners and enthusiasts of tattoo and body modification. The text’s dominant voice, Fakir Musafar, interpreted Western body modification and tattoo within a frame of primitivism, in an attempt to harness its sacredness and potential transformative power. The influence of the text was such that it was claimed to have started a movement, also referred to as ‘New Tribalism’. Since then, academic and popular discourse surrounding spirituality or transformation and tattoo has become synonymous with this ‘movement’. This thesis critically examines Modern Primitives by investigating the origin of its ideas, the epistemological climate in which it developed, and its influence on contemporary ideas about tattoo. Then, through an analysis of contemporary qualitative studies, it asks whether becoming heavily tattooed in the postmodern West can still be sacred or transformative when divorced from Modern Primitivist philosophies. In so doing, it explores: tattoo as profane simulation, tattoo as a means of constructing and manifesting identity, and the function of pain in encountering the sacred through tattoo. 4 Introduction The cultural and social revolutions of the twentieth century coalesced into an era defined by some as postmodern; a disillusionment with Enlightenment ideals uprooted traditional modern structures, transmuting places for self-identification into ambivalent, porous vessels (Lyotard 1984; Bauman 2000; Baudrillard 1995). In this new cultural climate of uncertainty maintaining a sense of permanence during transitional stages of life became increasingly difficult; cultural markers for growth were now transitory and fluid (Bauman 2000). Apropos these existential afflictions one cultural movement, as expressed in their key text, Modern Primitives: an investigation of contemporary adornment & ritual (Vale & Juno 1989), fabricated a solution to the secular Western quandary of disenchantment and uncertain self-identity: tribal inspired tattoo and ritualised body modification. This thesis investigates the Modern Primitives movement and its influence on contemporary understandings of tattoo as a sacred or transformative experience. When I began this research project, I had set out to determine whether becoming heavily tattooed in the postmodern West could be a sacred experience or rite of passage that facilitated an existential transition into a more secure state of being, not unlike that which occurred during premodern initiation rituals. In premodern, tribal societies—such as Polynesia—it was common practice for subjects of a rite of passage to undergo “profound changes in their social identity” (Glucklich 2001). Within these sacred rituals, physical violence was performed on 5 the bodies of the initiates; large scale tattoo work was a common method of distributing that pain, a process that, in the case of the Samoan Pe’a (boy’s initiation tattoo), could take up to a week, or ten days with a session every other day (Glucklich 2001; Gell 1993). While researching the literature on contemporary Western tattoo, however, it became increasingly clear that to answer my initial question I must first acknowledge and analyse the influence the Modern Primitives movement has had on contemporary understandings of tattoo as sacred or transformative. Modern Primitives, a one-hundred-and-eighty-page collection of interviews with practitioners and enthusiasts of tattoo, adopted and popularised large-scale tribal motifs and ritual vernacular. The text encouraged the belief that tattoo and body modification could facilitate a ‘rite of passage’ and provide ‘sacredness’ not unlike the premodern experience, giving modern individuals the existential footing necessary for a stable, authentic existence. Although the text placed an emphasis on the body as a vehicle for exploring one’s identity and spirituality, scholarly studies of the text primarily focused on criticizing the primitivist discourse and problematic appropriation of tribal culture (Klesse 1999; Eubanks 1996; Torgovnick 1995; Fenske 2007). Despite this, terms like ‘rite of passage’ and ‘sacredness’ entered and remain in the lexicon of tattoo culture without any consideration given to their efficacy in conveying the contemporary Western experience of becoming heavily tattooed (Vale & Juno 1989; Sweetman 1999; DeMello 2000; Pitts 2003; Myers 1992; Turner 1999; Atkinson 2003; Langman & 6 Cangemi 2015). Hence, this thesis critically examines Modern Primitives, investigating its origins, scholarship, and influence on contemporary tattoo, and then asks if becoming heavily tattooed in the postmodern West can be sacred or a rite of passage when divorced from Modern Primitivist philosophies. Chapter One of this thesis begins by charting the history of ideas and interactions between the premodern West and Polynesia that came to inform the Modern Primitive movement. To do so, I will briefly discuss Polynesian tatau, the rite of passage

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