A question about tattoos

[Hugh Olmsted]

Dear Nicole and colleagues,
Below are listed some further (printed) reference sources including  
information on Russian prison tattoos and related themes, in case  
they might be helpful.
Best wishes,
Hugh Olmsted

     Maruste, R. \ Prestupnaia subkul'tura v tatuirovkakh, zhestakh i  
v slenge.   Tartu: TGU, 1988.   166 p.
         Basic historical and  descriptive text in Estonian.    
Includes pictorial dictionary of tattoos widespread in Soviet  
criminal circulation, with interpretation of associated  monograms,  
abbreviations, and other verbal elements in Russian and Estonian.
      Slovar' vorovskogo iazyka : slova, vyrazheniia, zhesty,   
tatuirovki.  \ [Tiumen'?] : Nilpo, 1991.   170 p.

      Alferov, Iu. A. \ Zhargon i tatuirovki narkomanov v ITU.    
Domodedovo : RIPK rabotnikov OVD,  1992.

      Khukka, Vladimir Semenovich \ Zhargon i abbreviatura tatuirovok  
prestupnogo mira : slovar'- spravochnik.   Nizhnii Novgorod : GIPP  
"Nizhpoligraf", 1992.    232 p.

      Slovar' tiuremno- lagerno- blatnogo zhargona: rechevoi i  
graficheskii portret sovetskoi tiur'my \  / avtory -sost. D.S.  
Baldaev, V.K. Belko, I.M. Isupov.   M. : Kraia Moskvy, 1992.   525 p.

         In addition to the basic dictionary (p. 16-302), includes  
also: synonyms by thematic group, criminal proverbs and other  
expressions, an article by D.S. Likhachev on "Cherty pervobytnogo  
primitivizma vorovskoi rechi" with extensive bibliography, prisoners'  
card games,  underground versions of Leningrad area toponyms, and a  
catalog of underworld tatoos.

      Grachev, Mikhail Aleksandrovich \ Zhargon i tatuirovka  
narkomanov: kratkii slovar'- spravochnik.   Nizhnii Novgorod:  
Nizhegorodskii gaumanitarnyi tsentr, 1996.   75 p.


     Baldaev, Dantsik Sergeevich \ Slovar' blatnogo vorovskogo  
zhargona: v dvukh tomakh.   M. : "Kampana", 1997.   2 v.
         Contents:— v.1. ot A do P.— v.2. ot R do Ia.





On Sep 4, 2009, at 1:41 PM, Monniern wrote:

> SEELANGStsy!
>
> And now for something completely different: I have a student who  
> would like
> to get two tattoos, one that says “life” (on the right forearm),  
> one that
> says “death” (on the left forearm). I know enough about Russian prison
> tattoos to be vaguely concerned – does anyone know whether this tattoo
> concept inherently carries any formal meaning that he might wish to  
> eschew?
>
> Thanks!
>
> NM
>
>
> ****************************
> Dr. Nicole Monnier
> Assistant Teaching Professor of Russian
> Director of Undergraduate Studies (Russian)
> German & Russian Studies
> 428A Strickland (formerly GCB)
> University of Missouri
> Columbia, MO 65211
>
> phone: 573.882.3370
>
>
>
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