In(k)scribed Identities: A Sociological Analysis of Catholic Croat Tattoos
In(k)scribed Identities: A Sociological Analysis of Catholic Croat Tattoos

Summary/Abstract: For centuries, a number of Catholic Croat women from the territory of modern dayBosnia and Herzegovina have participated in a traditional form of tattooing. Rooted in thesocio-political context marked by the rule of the Ottoman Empire (16th–19th century), it wasbelieved that the symbols would offer protection against kidnapping by the Turks. While thepractice carried on, outliving the context of its creation, it entered into a slow decline; todaynot more than a handful of people still bear these markings. Using interviews collected byIlinčić (2016) as secondary data, I apply Foucauldian discourse analysis to follow the constructionof meaning associated to tattoos along the interpersonal-intergroup continuum. Drawingupon structuralism and feminist theories about the body and social identity theory, I focus onhow tattooing is used as a communicative signifier of social and or self-identity.

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