(Tat)who Am I? Tattoos as an Expression of Narrative Identity

Humans have been getting tattoos and telling stories for thousands of years. Although research on narratives has been gaining momentum in the past few decades, it is only now that the connection between tattoos and the life story is arousing interest among researchers. For this study, the use of tattoos as an expression of narrative identity was explored using reflective writing exercises and semi-structured interviews. Ten South African university students with at least one tattoo were selected through purposive sampling. Thematic narrative analysis revealed that the participants used tattoos to express their agency and unique identities and to represent their communion in the form of affiliation and intimacy. The participants expressed their resilience with their tattoos and the redemption narratives connected to them. Tattoos were used as reminders of the nuclear events that shaped their narrative identity and for some, incorporated the vicarious narratives from family. This study emphasizes the importance of all three layers of the self for narrative identity development by describing how the actor, agent, and author use tattoos to perform their various roles.