Telling Stories of and with the Body: Artistic Tattoos Overwriting Breast Cancer Scars

ABSTRACT Following recent advances in sociocultural linguistics on body semiosis, this paper analyses artistic tattoos over breast cancer scars as embodied communicative practices inscribing narratives of self. After sketching the ways in which sociolinguistics and the medical humanities conceptualise narratives of different kinds, we investigate the narrative nature and production format of post‐surgical tattoos. In line with the medical humanities, we find that such narratives tend to be episodic in nature, encoding personal histories, values, and family allegiances. What is more, our findings support claims by sociolinguists and critical disability researchers that embodied stories allow scarred individuals to structure and interpret their lived experiences. We highlight the community‐building and community‐affirming potential of post‐surgical tattoos as communicative corporeal practices that work as experiential anchors to persons affected by breast cancer.