Symbolism is Alive and Thriving
my best part
Discovering Modern Literacy
The following discourse will be an examination of the significance of symbolic
representation in the form of tattooing in helping to define historical oral
and modern literate cultures. As well, this investigation will briefly
examine theories around orality, literacy, and hypertext. First, a brief
understanding of what constitutes an oral, literate, and hypertextual culture
will be established in order to provide a foundation for further inquiry.
Oral Culture
In Orality and Literacy, Walter J. Ong describes a primary oral culture as a
culture with no knowledge whatsoever of writing or even of the possibility of
writing (Ong, 1982, p. 31). In such a culture words themselves are seen to be
power-driven (Ong, 1982) and there exists no external recording mechanism.
Therefore, Ong suggests that primary oral cultures develop mnemonicand
formulaic structures to internalize their thoughts (Ong, 1982). Through this
internalization primary oral cultures are able to keep account of, add to, and
pass along their collective histories.
Ong builds upon this idea of internalization through suggesting that orators in
an oral culture are: additive rather than subordinative, aggregative rather than
analytic, redundant or copious, conservative or traditionalist, close to the human
lifeworld, agonistically toned, empathetic and participatory rather than objectively
distanced, homeostatic, and situational rather than abstract (Ong, 1982). The
underlying premise of each of these aforementioned topics is that in an oral
culture there must be established structures, whether these are repetitive
patterns, over the top adjectives, and/or conceptual frameworks.
It is through these structures that oral societies retain and are able to recount
their collective histories. According to Ong, moving from a primary oral culture to
a literate culture occurs through stages; embedded within these stages one will
find remnants of oral tradition.
Literate Culture
As a culture moves away from being primary oral, Ong suggests that due to the nature of the technologies involved (e.g., animal skins, papyrus, quills, etc) [t]echnologies are not mere exterior aids but also interior transformations of consciousness, and never more when they affect the word (Ong, 1982, p. 81). This train of thought is supported by Marshall McLuhan's ideas around themedium being the message. McLuhan suggests the personal and social consequences of any medium that is, of any extension of ourselves result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology (McLuhan, p. 107). Therefore, as cultures develop and use new technologies changes occur simultaneously within the culture itself.
Ong describes some aspects of lingering orality during the European Renaissance when quite literate alchemists were using labels for their vials and boxesnot on a written name, but iconographic signs (Ong, 1982, p. 75). He suggests that this humanistic quality of reducing experience to visual analogues may have started with primary oral cultures but most certainly has been see in early literate cultures and modern electronic culture (Ong, 1982). As shown, Ong views writing with its various tools of construction (i.e., technologies) as both an external and internal catalyst of a changing human consciousness.
It is through utilizing new technologies that Ong believes one can express something poignantly human that cannot be expressed without the mechanical contrivance (Ong, 1982, p. 82). The use of a mechanical contrivance to enhance the human condition will be demonstrated in the later sections of this paper as well. While Ong does note that all forms of writing can trace their roots back to picture or symbolic writing (Ong, 1982) he suggests this does not constitute writing, as we know it today. Rather, modern literacy occurred when a coded system of visible marks was invented whereby a writer could determine the exact words that the reader would generate from the text (Ong, 1982, p. 83).
Hypertext
In Jay David Bolters book entitled Writing Space: Computers, Hypertext, and the Remediation of Print he describes changes in how the written word has and continues to evolve. Bolter begins his discourse through examining writing spaces; he suggests that [e]ach writing space is a material and visual field, whose properties are determined by a writing technology and the uses to which that technology is put by a culture of readers and writers (Bolter, 2001, p.12). One can see the similarities between this concept of writing being intimately connected to the technology that has generated the text and Ongs thoughts on mechanical contrivance. For Bolter, the connection between a writing space and a culture utilizing that space is paramount in the construction of knowledge. The behavior of the writing space becomes a metaphor for the human mind as well as for human social interaction (Bolter, 2001, p.13).
The external and internal interactions between writing technologies and the writing space enable both writers and readers to participate in an abstract space of signs (Bolter, 2001, p. 18). Bolter posits that this relationship is enhanced through hypertextual writing. Hypertextis a linking of text where writing is not necessarily subordinate to another; rather, a network of related documents creates a more holistic picture on any given topic (Bolter, 2001). That is, the symbols have a meaning that may be explained in words, but they also have meaning as links, as elements in a larger structure of verbal gestures (Bolter, 2001, pp. 27-28).
Now that a foundational understanding of what constitutes an oral, a literate, and hypertext culture has been established an examination of historical and modern tattooing will be examined as a symbolic from of literacy that preserves, transmits, and creates culture.
Historical Symbolism
When two German tourists found a frozen body in the Otztal Alpsno one imagined it would turn out to be one of the most significant anthropological discoveries of modern times. Otzi, as he came to be called, was a three thousand year old Cooper Age mummy (Wikipedia, 2009). After examination 57 carbon tattoos consisting of simple dots and lines on his lower spine, behind his left knee, and on his right ankle were discovered (Wikipedia, 2009). Professor Konrad Spindler stated that the position of the tattoo marks suggests that they were probably applied for therapeutic reasons (Krcmarlk, 2003). When looking at historical tattooing on the West Coast of British Columbia there are relatively few resources.
Yet, James G. Swan in a report to the Smithsonian in 1874 recounted some of the tattoos of the Haida people and their cultural significance (Tattoo Symbol.Com, 2009).
The chief or head man owns the house, and the occupants are his family and relatives, each one of whom will have on some part of the body a representation in tattooing of the particular figure which constitutes his or her family name or connection. ...The chief will have all the figures tattooed on his body to show his connection with the whole. ...The principal portion of the body tattooed is the back of the hand and forearm; and a Haidah, particularly the women, can be readily designated from any other northern tribe by this peculiarity (Tattoo Symbol.Com, 2009).
Perhaps one of the most renowned cultures that practiced tattooing were, and are, the Maori of New Zealand. As the tattoos of the Otztal iceman and Haida have demonstrated these marking upon ones body are more than simple attempts at beautification. Rather, there are important cultural stories written through these symbolic forms that are discernable by a specific audience, not unlike an orators speech, novelists short story, or a modern website. The Maori Ngati Toa leader and warrior Te Pehi Kupe illustrated a self-portrait in 1826. One mark just over his nose was, he said, his nameEuropee man write with pen his nameTe Pehi's is here (pointing to his forehead); and he delineated on paper the corresponding marks or names of his brother and of his son. Every line, both on his face and on other parts of his body, was firmly registered on his memory (Robley, 1826).
Tattooing on the face of Te Pehi Kupe, drawn by himself
Modern Symbolism
Historically tattooing has been connected to the spiritual, political, and social constructs of cultures not unlike oral, literate, and hypertextual artifacts. These spheres of historical cultures are as represented in a modern context in regard to tattoo symbolism as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago. Literally the stories that are told in the tattoos of the present can be seen to connect with their ancient predecessors now more than any other time in recent modernity.
According to authors Atte Oksanen and Jussi Turtiainen inA life Told In Ink: Tattoo Narratives and the problem of the Self in Late Modern Society[t]he tattooed body represents a map that enables narration (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 111). As previously demonstrated in regard to historical tattoo symbolism, modern tattoos also express an individuals life journey and their social and cultural connections. A tattoo engraved into the skin represents a link to personal life history, as well as an opportunity for subjective security (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 112). Were not the therapeutic tattoos of the iceman an attempt at spiritual deliverance from pain (i.e., relief from arthritis) as well as a way to ease his own concerns regarding his inflictions? Oksanen and Turtiainen quote interviews conducted by Tattoo magazine in which tattooees relate some of their tattoo narratives. Tsae Lee Dow refers to her tattoos as footnotes of herself and as a personal history in her skin (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 113).
This concept of tattoos and their symbolism being more than an aesthetically pleasing accessory is also noted in Heather Wisners article Are TATTOOS Taboo? Wisner quotes Peter Gleeson from the Houston Ballet who suggests "[t]attoos mark a time and place in your life,they're a road map" (Wisner, 2002, p. 54).
Synthesis
The main point is that the relationship between word and image is becoming increasingly unstable, and this instability is especially apparent in popular American magazines, newspapers, and various forms of graphic advertisements (Bolter, 2001, p. 49). Bolter is quite right is suggesting that there exists instability between orality/literacy (i.e., the spoken or written word) and imagery in modern society. Though as the edges become blurred in this age of technology perhaps forms of communication are becoming more holistic and in some sense historically grounded.
It has been shown that tattoos are more than mere pictures augmenting the human form. Tattoos and the stories they represent are intrinsically connected to the life experiences of the tattooee in both individual and social contexts. The relationship between tattoos and subject is dialogical (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 114). Therein lies a natural connection between tattoos as a medium for communication and aspects of orality, literacy, and hypertext. Tattoo narratives involve multidimensionality: they bridge space, time, memory and affects together (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 115).
Body marking is the uniting factor of a social world. In a sense the technological age seems to call for a new kind of primitivism when life is too distancing, the skin and flesh start to speak (Oksanen & Turtiainen, 2005, p. 117). The decision to get tattooed can be formed from a myriad of factors e.g., personal, social, and cultural. Regardless of the reasoning behind the acquisition of tattoos, it has been demonstrated that both historically and in the age of modernity the stories tattoos depict are narratives and thus should not be dismissed as ancient ritualistic body modification or as part of a recent fad. Rather, tattoo narratives should be given recognition as part of the vast array of forms of human communication.
Conclusion
References
Bolter, Jay David. (2001). Writing space: Computers, hypertext, and the remediation of print [2nd edition]. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Haida Tattoos of the Pacific Northwest. (2009) Tattoo Symbols.Com. Retrieved, 15October 2009, from: http://www.tattoosymbol.com/haida/haida-2.html
Krcmarlk, K.L., (2003) History of Tattooing: Origin of Tattooing. Michigan State University. Retrieved, 12 October 2009, from: https://www.msu.edu/~krcmari1/individual/history.html
McLuhan, M., (1964). In Understanding Media: The Extension of Man. Retrieved, 21 October 2009, from: http://books.google.com/books
Ong, Walter. (1982.) Orality and Literacy. Chapters 3 and 5 (pp. 30-155).
Ötzi the Iceman. (2009). Wikipedia: Online Encyclopedia. Retrieved, 21 October 2009, from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ötzi_the_Iceman
Robley, H.G., (1826). MOKO; OR MAORI TATTOOING. Victoria University of Wellington Libraries Catalogue. Retrieved, 12 October 2009, from: http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/name-102939.html
Wisner, H., (2002). Are Tattoos TABOO? Dance Magazine: Image (pp. 54-57).
Japanese tattoo picture courtesy of Erin Gillespie
Designed by ArtPortFolio 2009 All Rights Reserved C
