Local Traditions, Global Modernities
Dress, Identity and the Creation of Public Self-Images in Contemporary Urban Myanmar
Published on 4. October 2011
Book
282 pages
978-3-940132-33-8 (ISBN)
Description
Globalization, the introduction of market oriented economic policies, and the sudden widespread availability of international media and consumer goods has led to rapid societal change in Myanmar during the last twenty years that almost overwhelmed people and caused intense conflicts between desires to catch up with a perceived global modernity and fears of losing one's own identity, culture and values. Georg Noack's study explores dress and adornment of the body as a means of negotiating and expressing identity and values in contemporary urban Myanmar. It also provides profound insights in the history of Myanmar dress - as an art both in making and in wearing - as well as its use in visual representations of 'Myanmarness' such as colonial and contemporary photography.
More details
Content
Acknowledgements 9
Preface by Uta Gärtner 11
1 Introduction: Local Traditions, Global Modernities-Dress, Identity and the Creation of Public Self-Images in Contemporary Urban Myanmar 15
The Location: Contemporary Urban Myanmar 19
Theory and Methods 24
This Study 40
2 'Traditional' Dress 43
From Customary Dress to 'Traditional' Dress- Dynamic or Fixed ? 43
History 45
Traditional Garments-Material Aspects, Wearing and Perception 70
3 Photography, Dress and the Presentation of Self and Other 85
Colonial Portraits of 'the Burmese' from the Collection of the Ethnological Museum Berlin 88
Dress in the Imagery of Myanmar Magazines 103
Privately Commissioned Portraits 114
Wedding Photography 119
4 Fashion 141
Fashion and the Fashion System in Europe 144
The Evolution of Fashion in Myanmar: Actors as Trendsetters 147
The Impact of Foreign Film on Local Fashion 161
The Fashion Industry and Fashion Design in Present Yangon 172
5 Getting Dressed in Contemporary Yangon: Dress as a Means of Communication and a Marker of Identity 185
Habitus 186
Stage 226
Conclusion 241
Appendix: Glossary of Myanmar Terms 247
References 267
Preface by Uta Gärtner 11
1 Introduction: Local Traditions, Global Modernities-Dress, Identity and the Creation of Public Self-Images in Contemporary Urban Myanmar 15
The Location: Contemporary Urban Myanmar 19
Theory and Methods 24
This Study 40
2 'Traditional' Dress 43
From Customary Dress to 'Traditional' Dress- Dynamic or Fixed ? 43
History 45
Traditional Garments-Material Aspects, Wearing and Perception 70
3 Photography, Dress and the Presentation of Self and Other 85
Colonial Portraits of 'the Burmese' from the Collection of the Ethnological Museum Berlin 88
Dress in the Imagery of Myanmar Magazines 103
Privately Commissioned Portraits 114
Wedding Photography 119
4 Fashion 141
Fashion and the Fashion System in Europe 144
The Evolution of Fashion in Myanmar: Actors as Trendsetters 147
The Impact of Foreign Film on Local Fashion 161
The Fashion Industry and Fashion Design in Present Yangon 172
5 Getting Dressed in Contemporary Yangon: Dress as a Means of Communication and a Marker of Identity 185
Habitus 186
Stage 226
Conclusion 241
Appendix: Glossary of Myanmar Terms 247
References 267