Inscription By Destiny: Narrative And Analysis Of Tattoo Stories Of Urban Youth In Beijing

As a part of the body decorations,tattooing has been existed for thousands of years.In ancient societies,tattoos were often used as a symbol of totems to express people's adoration of natural gods in order to obtain God's protection.In the late 1990's,with China's reform and opening,a lot of foreign film and television works landed on.Since then,tattoos have become a symbol of members of triad members,gangsters and other social subgroups,and are often associated with drugs,violence and so on.And with the advancement of globalization and modernization,nowadays,tattoos have undergone another change in their connotations in the influence of youth subcultures.Although the mainstream society is still full of prejudice and discrimination,to a certain extent,it is no longer a border between "good and evil" but a manifestation of the pursuit of fashion and individuality.Through the author's observations,young people in urban areas are particularly enthusiastic about tattooing.Many people have the desire to tattoo even if they do not have tattoos.So,why do the new generation of young people growing up in the period of social transformation choose to tattoo?What is the social significance behind this?And what exactly does a tattoo mean today?These are the questions which this thesis wants to answer.Through the examination of the history of tattoo development,we can see that the current tattoo culture is quite different in function and meaning compared to ancient society and modern society.In the ancient societies,tattoo presented a witchcraft function which derived by the natural worship to ward off bad luck.And in the modern societies,tattoo means group loyalty in the gangdom.Nowadays,tattoo presents a trend and characteristics of de-superstition and de-gangland,and become the way that individuals express their will and existence.So I think that the current tattoo has in some sense been transformed from the worship of "God" to the worship of "Self".In the author's survey of the status of youth tattoos in Beijing,most tattoo groups present the following characteristics:parents divorced,homosexual groups,and unemployed.Such circumstances often lead them to produce an "empty" feeling,forcing them into a process of constant search for "self'.Tattoos have become a way for them to construct their own subjectivity.They use their body as an object to portray their will and feelings.In the process,tattoos have some kind of convenience that expresses the "presence".But it must also be clearly realized that in addition to the expressiveness of tattooing,it is more necessary for courage to make decisions than clothing,makeup,and other methods of changing the physical appearance.In Chapter 4,the discussion on "hesitating tattoos" is carried out on the relationship between individual self-determination and social norms.Focusing on the above issues,this thesis takes the existentialism research on "the sense of presence" as the starting point,combines individual "life experiences" with "tattoos",discuss and analyze the tattoo narrative of the research object,concluded that:some tattoo group experiences a sense of presence crisis and lack of presence in the course of their lives,and through the symbolic meanings and the physical practices of tattooing,they implement the externalization of self-respect and self-confirmation,and they achieve the reconstruction of "existence" in the end.Therefore,we should be aware that the youth subculture as a mechanism can effectively compensate the identity and existence value for the group which the mainstream culture cannot bring.Further more,the youth subculture even can effectively break collective dilemmas in the youth group.