Tattoo as a «performative narrative». educational potential of the inked flesh
Mariarosaria De Simone, Ivana Provitera, Gennaro Raio
This paper aims, with a critical and reflective look, to redefine the meaning of tattooing, promoting its «evolutionary» signification in terms of self-awareness. In an attempt to move beyond the idea of tattooing as an expression of individual acting, considering it, from an embodied perspective, as a «simultaneous individual and social co-constitution» (Johncock, 2012), the educational experience from which the curiosity to explore the idea of the body as a canvas on which to make «identity» and of the act of tattooing as a «performative narrative» is described. In an attempt to «resist» dominant oppressive discursive practices towards the embodied identities we work with educationally, an attempt was therefore made to promote a space of greater openness in considering and re-considering, even as a challenging encounter opportunity with high educational potential, tattoos and tattooing.
Keywords
Tattoo, embodied pedagogy, performance narrative, practices of resistance, critical pedagogy.