The (Religious) Craft of Tattooing

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29340/en.v8n15.396

Keywords:

tattoo, religious icons, lived religion, Catholicism

Abstract

Religious tattooing has evolved from a ritual to a profession. By materializing beliefs, tattooists experience the tension between art and spirituality. This study examines how tattoo parlors have become a space where contemporary religious expression is configured, exploring the intersections between art, spirituality, and trade.

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Author Biography

  • Gustavo Morello, Boston College

    Gustavo Morello is a Jesuit, professor of Sociology at Boston College. He received his PhD from the University of Buenos Aires (2011), Master in Social Sciences from the National University of Cordoba (2001), Bachelor in Theology (2007, Universidad del Salvador, Bs. As.) and Philosophy (1991, Universidad del Salvador, Bs. As.). He taught at the Catholic University of Córdoba, Argentina (1997- 2011), was “visiting researcher” at the University of Michigan (2009-2010) and “principal investigator” of the research project The Transformation of Lived Religion in Urban Latin America: a Study of Contemporary Latin Americans Experience of the Transcendent (2015-2018) and gave, in 2019, The D'Arcy Lectures, Campion Hall, University of Oxford, UK. Morello investigates the transformations of Latin American religiosity and its interactions with modernity. His latest book is An Enchanted Modernity. Religión vivida en América Latina (EDUCC, 2020).

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Published

2025-03-20

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