Stories on Skin: A Librarian's Guide to Tattoos as Personal Archives (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781440877643)

Helps expand archival studies into impermanent media like body art, suggesting that archiving must be considered a form of storytelling.

Tattoos are not merely decorative; they contain deep meaning for individuals and communities. They document their wearers' personal histories and position in families or society, and they engage with a communal understanding of symbols.

This unique book makes the case that archivists who want to preserve as full a human story as possible must recognize the rich documentation provided by tattoos. It also argues, in a broader sense, that traditional archives are not representative of the ways human beings transmit information through time and that they must be augmented by other types of storytelling to provide a more complete record of our species.

Authors Baxter and Coyner touch on timely topics such as historical narratives, storytelling, cultural traditions, the body as a text, social control, and memorialization by considering tattoos as a personal and community archive. Discussing tattoos as a storytelling tool, the authors also challenge how history is kept and who gets included. Stories on Skin is committed to the rights of communities to tell their stories in their own way and to the power that right brings.

Author: Terry Baxter, Libby Coyner-Tsosie
ISBN-10: 1440877645
ISBN-13: 9781440877643
Publisher: Bloomsbury Libraries Unlimited
Language: English
Published: 08/20/2026
Pages: 200
Format: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 1.00h x 1.00w x 1.00d