Na#onality:

Fashioning the Na#on

TXC 7_2016_Wk 4 Lec 1
 Oh say can you see
$1,515 for flag tank
top? The ripped and burned wallet-
buster is drawing fire

But outside the fashion world, folks are taking

offense. The New York Post quoted re#red
Army soldier George Alatzas, who runs flag
Balmain ac#vism website "It's All About the Flag," who
said, "Our flag has witnessed many sacrifices. It
is the glue that holds our patrio#sm together.
Shame on those who defile it in any way.”
NATION

Belonging and Place

-Affords opportunities for present and

future

-Visions of place shape processes of

subject formation

-National subject positioning

Symbols help form visions of place.

Representa#ons of na#onal iden#ty
 Fashion expresses Na#onality and like na#on
fosters a sense of iden#fica#on.
Na#on-state: a form of poli#cal organiza#on
in which a group of people who share the same
history, tradi#ons, or language live in a par#cular
area [with geographic boundaries] under one
government (Merriam-Webster online).
 Na#on
An “imagined community”
(Benedict Anderson)
‘na#ons must con#nually recreate
themselves if they are to serve their
members by offering a sense of belonging..’
Anderson

•  Geographic, poli#cal, economic boundaries

•  Modern concept
“The State is a historical phenomenon; it is a product of human
associa#on - of men and women living together in an organized
way; not of nature” (Stuart Hall).
 Na#on
•  Modern concept premised on the tendency of
dominant nations to appropriate the national
narrative by claiming a coherence and uniformity
that, on close inspection proved to be more
imagined than real (Tseelon, 2010).
Think about Today’s In Class Ac#vity

How do you represent your na#onal or

transna#onal iden#ty(ies)?

Besides the material aspect, what cultural
studies concepts do you employ?
ie. ar#cula#on, agency, subject posi#on, etc..
A Very Brief History of Fashion and
the (Euro) Modern State
15
1539
 From Feudal Aristocra0c States to
Absolute Monarchies

- A strengthening of na#onally-unified power and
absorp#on of weaker territories by larger ones,
#ghtening of law by a sovereign power
(The “Divine right of Kings”)

- Mercan#lism: the dominant economic form
(more gov’t authority)

- Leads to states increasingly acquiring a “na#onal”

character (i.e. Elizabethan England)
Rise of Absolu#sm in Elizabethan England
The rise of absolu#sm
Court of Versailles in
France

Louis XIV and His Heirs, 1709

Louis XIV at the Gropo of The#s, 1675

 The Cons#tu#onal
or Contractual State

power is shared by the ruler with
the upper and middle classes,

guaranteed by law and formalized
in a cons#tu#onal system.

The revolu#on of 1644 (England)

In France much later with the
revolu#on(1989-1799).

1644 – Charles I of England & Scotland

The Court of
Versailles
The Cons#tu#onal or Contractual State

Commercializa#on of these na#on-states undermined
absolu#sm.

Struggle by some gentry, merchants, ar#sans and labor against
Monarchy and Mercan#lism lead to transforma#ons of
economy.

Principles of market and contract provide the metaphor for a
new concep#on of state in Western Europe:

a contractual state where power is shared by the ruler with
the upper and middle classes, guaranteed by law and
formalized in a cons8tu8onal system.

History has…”a peculiar role in fashion, especially when
applied to matters of national identity” (Reinach 2010:208).

The increasing emphasis on clothing as part of representa#on moves in
a parallel manner to European expansion, colonialism, capitalism, and
modernity.

 Globalization:

Associated with the restructuring of capital (1980s)

-the blurring of boundaries (national, economic, and

cultural)
- only possible with digital technologies.

Re worldwide distribution of branded clothing products

and advertising images:

-a “kind of Esperanzo (a universal language) immediately

accessible across social and geographical
borders” (Christopher Breward, 1995: 229)
Globaliza0on: 2 models
(both related to difference, both hegemonic)

•  1) Colonial, imperial model: British, based on
spreading influence of nation state; constructs an exotic
“other”—who British are different from; development as
justification.

•  2)“Melting pot” model: US absorbs difference,

articulates and appropriates it; eclectic, aggressive
capitalization.
 #1) Colonial model
•  Empire building with differentiation

•  Representation of “national” and “global”—how

England is different from India, Africa

•  Wool as “moral fiber” Masculine (not French or

Oriental, like silk)---race, class, and gender
constructions—men’s tailoring

•  Obsession with difference

•  Progress Narrative (European = Modernity,

Civilization, / Colonies = Tradition, The Past)
Although Chinese leader Mao
Zedong aimed to resist all
forms of western bourgeois
modernity (including dress)
during the Chinese Cultural
Revolu#on (1966-1976),
China is now a major
manufacturer and consumer
of western fashion.
China under the rule of Mao
Zedong, was most determined
to adapt the ethos of progress,
he did not wish to emulate the
west in mapers of dress.
The Mao uniform was
adopted.
 #2). “Mel#ng pot Myth”:
Americaniza#on

•  Idea absorbs and appropriates difference

•  Appropriates difference eclectically (difference as
creative resource)
•  Imagination of “nation” as melting pot
•  Meshes with current model of globalization
•  Fosters ethos of transnational hybridization
•  Characterized by a kind of transnational mass culture
that supports the disconnect between production and
consumption.
For consumers in “developed nations” Globalization means:
An abundance of fashion sold by giant retailers who can update
inventory, make transnational trade deals, coordinate distribution with a
computer click
•  Branding through hyper-visible marketing and the Invisibility of labor
 The produc0on-consump0on disconnect

fiber àyarn àfabric à finish à apparel àretail à consumer

But who’s doing the producing,

and how are they being
represented? Who is visible?
Issues of political economy:

The “race to the bottom” as well as

openings for inventive business models

“fast fashion” giant clothing companies

such as the GAP of San Francisco, USA,
the British Topshop, Benetton of Italy,
H&M of Sweden, Zara of Spain (owned
by Inditex).
Immediate consumer feedback
Centralized distribution
Flexible Delivery of goods as soon as two
weeks
 Global assembly line

•  Race to the “bopom” (lowest wages), in countries

around the world
•  Increased immigra#on from developing countries
•  “Neo-colonialism” -- The dominance of strong
na#ons over weak na#ons, not by direct poli#cal
control (as in tradi#onal colonialism), but by
economic and cultural influence.
(The American Heritage® New Dic#onary of Cultural Literacy, Third
Edi#on).
 Informal global networks
•  Necessary due to exclusion of large, formal
networks
•  Increase in ar#sanal producers
•  Suitcase vendors sell to tourists
•  Travel to diasporic communi#es in Europe and
the U.S.
•  Sell in homes, at fes#vals, on websites


Global paradox:
Heterogeneity and
homogeneity

•  Increased variety within

geographic loca#ons
•  Sameness across
loca#ons (Walmart
effect)
 Paradox: Renewed focus on
“na#onal dress” in a transna#onal world

Why?
•  “imagined commonality”; discourses of
na#onal “authen#city,” anxie#es about loss
 Crea#ng Na#onal Subject

John Adams (1735-1826) George Washington

(1732-1799)
Nego#a#ng na#onal iden#ty through iden#ty
not: imita#on and differen#a#on (Simmel)

British soldiers
 Stagecoach (1939)

American? Western?
 Finalists 2006—
Spain (5th), Belgium (2nd), USA
East (Winner), China North (3rd),
Turkey (4th)

2006 USA East

 Paradox: Renewed focus on
“na#onal dress” in a transna#onal world

Why?
•  “imagined community”; discourses of na#onal
“authen#city”?
•  transna#onal flows, discourses, movements
(diasporas—dispersals of popula#ons from a given
place/space)—hegemony at play?
•  gender and other subject posi#ons (race, ethnicity,
religion, social class, etc.) intervene…
•  ethnic and cultural diversity within na#ons—
hegemony at play?
 Kate
Middleton,
Princess of
Wales in
Catherine
Walker

Miss
Great
Britain
Miss Universe Pageant
•  Founded in 1952 by
California clothing company
Pacific Mills. The pageant
became part of Kayser-Roth
and then Gulf and Western
Industries, before being
acquired by Donald Trump in
1996.

(Another model of
globaliza#on?)
Miss USA (Jan, 2015) flaunts her feathers.