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Wrapping in Images: Tattooing in Polynesia.

Article  in  Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute · September 1997

DOI: 10.2307/3034802

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Wrapping in Images: Tattooing in Polynesia. by Alfred Gell
Review by: Christina Toren
The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Sep., 1997), pp. 629-630
Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3034802 .
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 BOOK REVIEWS 629

settlement styles(e.g., Islamicand Lamaist). methatthisworkwillbecomean anthropologi-

Out ofthismulticultural soupthatremained, a cal classic- itsthesisis fascinating, itsimagina-
new urbanfrontier traditionarose. Still,he tivelysubtleanalysesofa vastbodyofcomplex
acknowledges thata remarkable degreeof cul- ethnographic dataarecompelling, itsscholarly
turalcontinuity persists alongChina'sfrontiers. rigoursetsa fineexampleto us all, and it'sa
The spatialorganization of frontier cities wonderfully good read.All of whichmakeit
morecloselymirrored Chineseidealsthanthe also,andperhapsparadoxically, a difficultbook
morecomplexurbanformsfoundin theChi- to review.
nese heartland.For example,ideallyevery Gell arguesthattattooing, as an indelibleand
mosquein an Islamiccityshouldbe oriented irreversible transformation of thebody'sexte-
towardsMecca,but thisis seldomthecase in rior, ofitsboundary conditions as itwere,canbe
Chinawherethemajority of mosquesareori- regarded atonceas theprovision ofa defensive
entedalongan east-west axisthatis characteris-secondskinand as a component of thesocial
ticoftraditional Chinesebeliefsin theefficacy personas a whole,consideredas a defensive
of the cardinaldirections. Consequently, the structure. It followsthatthedifferential forms
Muslimslivingin China,Gaubatzwrites, 'pray takenby tattooing in any givenethnographic
nottowardMecca,but in alignments fixedby instanceare literalembodiments of different
conceptsofbuildingorientation rootedin Chi- formsofsubjectivity and,as such,partialmani-
nesetradition' (p. 150). festations of collectivesociopolitical relations
In an important revisionist chapter, Gaubatz and a constitutive componentin theirrepro-
informsus that contraryto conventional duction.Thus, throughout whatis knownas
wisdom,theculturaldivisionbetweenfarmers Polynesia (fromwhencetheword'tattoo'came
and urbanites is nota recentphenomenon but, intoEnglishusage)thepresenceor absenceof
muchlikeEurope,hasa longhistory. The cul- tattooing, itsmarking outofcertain personsand
turalgapwassufficiently pronounced thatChi- not of others,its degreeof elaborationor
nesefarmers andurbanites essentiallyoccupied attenuation, and theveryimagery of whichit
twocompletely different mentaluniverses. makesuse,shouldco-vary withideasofperson,
Gaubatzacknowledges thatthe 'distinction selfand cosmology, andwiththesociopolitical
betweenfrontier garrisons, towns,and citiesis relations thatdescribeexchange, marriage and
veryfineandopentointerpretation' (p. 87). He the natureof the polityat large.Polynesiain
does not discussthe long and oftentedious Gell's work describesa geographical region
debate,conductedprimarily by archaeologists,withinwhichindependent polities,evengiven
overwhatconstitutes a city.For hima cityis theircommon'Lapitan'origin,havedifferent
definedby its functionratherthan its size. cultural trajectoriesas a function ofpeople'sdif-
Using thatcriterion, he neglectsto developa ferentmaterialhistories; thatis to say,'Poly-
cleardistinction betweena proto-urban andan nesia'is notconceived ofintermsoftheplayof
urban settlement. Consequently, some sites structural possibilitiesoutofan archetypal cul-
wherethedataarevagueareclassified as urban. turalcore.Instead,Gell'ssynchronic 'combin-
This is a minorquibble.It in no waydetracts atorial'analysisfocuseson divergent cultural
fromthebook'sprimary focuson exploring the developments as thesemaybe discovered inthe
culturalsynthesisthat producesnew urban dataavailablefromarchaeological discoveries,
forms.It is an exploration he does extremely indigenous oraltraditions and nineteenth cen-
well. turyaccountssuppliedbyexplorers, missionar-
The systematic studyof Chineseurbanism ies, administrators, sailors,ethnographers and
hasjust begun.Gaubatz'stimelybookensures nativeinformants.
thatChina'sfrontier citieswillbe includedin Tattooingis primarily associatedwithpre-
suchan analysis. literatetribalsocietiesand,withinmorecom-
WILLIAMJANKOWIAK plexstatesystems, withrepressed or marginal-
UniversityofNevada Las Vegas
izedminorities andGell'stheoretical introduc-
tionaddresses thisproblematic conjunction. Via
a discussionof recentanthropological analyses
GELL, ALFRED. Wrapping in images: tattooing in (byT. Turner andM. Strathern) oftheskinas a
Polynesia (Oxf Stud. social cult.Anthrop.) symbolic form, ofMaertens's Lacanianperspec-
xii,347 pp.,illus.,bibliogr. Oxford:Claren- tiveon tattooing, body-painting andcosmetics,
don Press,1993.?35.00 and ofAnzieu'sreformulation of ego psycho-
logyin termsoftheninefunctions ofthe'skin
I beginthisreviewbydeclaring myself to have ego', Gell arrivesat a convincing accountof
been a studentofAlfredGell'sat theLondon whathe calls 'the basic schemaof tattooing'.
SchoolofEconomics; hewastheinternal exam- Thisisallfascinating stuff,
especially as hedem-
inerformy own Ph.D thesisand becamea onstrates thattheverydifferently derivedpsy-
friend.This unorthodox beginning seemsnec- chologicaland anthropological perspectives
essaryherebecausewhatI haveto sayabout coincidein theviewthattheskinis indeedthe
Wrapping in images is virtually unalloyed praise. socialpersonhimor herself and thatAnzieu's
Butanyotherreaderwould,I thinkagreewith ideas are immensely suggestive of the many
630 BOOK REVIEWS

waysinwhichtattooscan signify. eroticsymbolism.

Therefollowseparate analyses oftattooing in No doubt thatthereare pointson which
Western PolynesiaandFiji,theSocietyIslands, Gell's analysiscan be disputed- I myself dis-
theMarquesas,Mangarevaand OuterEastern agree,forexample, withsomedetailsofhisper-
Polynesia (New Zealand, Easter Island, spective on genderandhierarchy in Fiji- butI
Hawaii),followedbya finalcomparative chap- feelequallysurethatthisworkwillbecomea
tershowinghow the thematic possibilities of modelforhowone shouldsetaboutcompara-
the underlying technicalschemaof tattooing tiveethnographic analysis,and thusstandard
were exploitedin different waysby differentreadingforgenerations ofanthropologists
regimes ofsocialreproduction. CHRISTINA TOREN
Giventhecomplexity of thematerial, I con- BrunelUniversity
centratehereon a singlelongchapter on West-
ern Polynesiaand Fiji. In its mostsimplified
formGell'sargument hereis as follows:differ- GREENBERG, KENNETH S. Honorand slavery:lies,
entialtattooing signifieddifferences in rank; duels,noses,masks, dressingas a woman, gifts,
wheresistersoutranked brothers and married strangers, humanitarianism, death,slaverebellions,
up,girlswereonlyminimally tattooed, ifatall; theproslavery argument, baseball,hunting and
wherechiefship was dual theritualparamount gambling in theOld South.xvi,176 pp.,illus.
wasnottattooed andhisfellow, theexecutive or Princeton: Univ.Press,1996.?19.95
warchiefwas; andwherehypergamy anddual
chiefship wenttogether it followedthatonly a subtitle
Mrth suchas this,a reviewer's taskof
untattooed married couplesweretobe foundat ietailing thecontents ofa bookaremademuch
theheadofa regional chiefly hierarchy. Despite -asier. In factthisnovelaccountofgentlemen of
itsapparentsimplicity, thisargument allowsfor ionour in the pre-CivilWar South of the
themostcomplexand subtleofvariations and UnitedStatesis aboutall thethingsthesubtitle
foran analysisof exchangerelations and mar- nentions, and morebesides.So ifyouwantto
riageacross,as wellas within, theseparate poli- mow,forexample,whySoutherngentlemen
tiesofSamoa,FijiandTonga.Moreover, itsana- )referred huntingto baseball,or why they
lyticpoweris demonstrated byprecisely those raluedtheirnosesmorethentheirpenises,then
examplesthatappear,at first sight,to be prob- (ou shouldlook no further thanthishighly
lematic.Thus,forexample, whileanyholderof -eadable book.
a Samoanchieflytitlewas boundas a young Greenberg's aim is to reconstructand inter-
mantohavebeentattooed, therewas neverthe- )reta 'dead' language, thelanguageof honour
lessanexplicitprohibition against anyfirther tat- ,pokenbythegentlemen who ruledtheante-
tooingof the Tui Manu'a, the holderof the ,ellumSouth.Butalthough Greenberg talksof
paramounttitleof Samoa,who ritually out- ;he 'language'of honour,his accountof the
rankedthe much more politically powerful -odesand practicesof Southerngentlemen
Tupuo Samoa;moreover, theproblem posedby -ould justas easilybe saidtobe abouta 'culture'
hypergamy here,wherehis sisterand sister's )fhonour,or evenabouthonouras a cultural
son wereactuallyof superiorrankto theTui ;ystem.Nor does the Geertzianparallelend
Manu'a,wassolvedbythetitlebeinggivenonly iere,forGreenberg's methodis to relatea par-
to veryold menwho wouldnotproducechil- ;icularnarrative - abouta duel betweentwo
drenaftertheiraccessionand by makingthe )oliticians forexample,or of a politeslanging
sister'sson a titular
title-holder's heirwhowas natchcarried outinthepagesofa localnewspa-
absolutelyprohibited fromsucceedingto his )er- andshowhowthesesometimes puzzling
mother'sbrother's title;as a formally 'untitled -ventsrevealaspectsof a widerand unstated
youngman'he remained, in directcontrast to ;ystem ofvalues,thecode ofhonourpractised
hismother's brother, permanently'tattooable'.)ySouthern gentlemen.
But myenthusiasm forthisworkhas lessto Aswellas beingofinterest toanthropologists
do withthe combinatorial analysisand more {vorking on cultures ofhonour,thebookmight
withthedetailthatmakesit compelling: with, lso be profitably readbythosewithan interest
forexample,theexplanation ofwhy,giventhat n slavery. Greenbergshows in variousways
menweretattooed, thetutelary deitiesoftattoo- iowmasters intheSouthdefined themselves in
ingin Samoaweretwingoddesses whoatbirth )pposition to theirslaves,withregardto such
werejoined backto back;withwhy,giventhe hingsas lying,duelling,givinggiftsand even
explicitSamoanassociationbetweentattooing omething so mundaneas running: slaveswere
and birth,theritualequivalent oftattooing for nveterateliars, masterswere not; masters
Samoanwomencanbe arguedto be notchild- .oughtduels,slavesdid not;masters gavegifts,
birthbutdefloration; withwhyin Fiji,Samoa ,lavesonlyeverreceived them;slavesran,mas-
andTonga,thereis an association betweentat- :erschased.
tooingandforeignness; withwhythetattooing Therearetimes,however, whentheanalysis
ofSamoanwomeninthepopliteal spacebehind eems somewhatcontrived, as well as one-
thekneeis,likethetattooing ofFijianwomenat ;ided.The language ofhonourappearstoadmit
thecorners oftheirmouths, a formofdisplaced io contradiction or ambiguity, and sometimes

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