The politics and identity of fashion changes in early-twentieth century China

Wang, Lu

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/105258 Copy

Description

Title

The politics and identity of fashion changes in early-twentieth century China

Author(s)

Wang, Lu

Issue Date

2019-04-26

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Shao, Dan

Department of Study

E. Asian Languages & Cultures

Discipline

East Asian Studies

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.A.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• fashion
• Republic of China
• public discourse
• state power
• gender

Abstract

Incorporating gender as a category of historical analysis, this article will take a look at the debate on the symbolic meaning of women’s fashion in early-twentieth century China. Women’s fashion has been perceived as an important site of normative prescription in Chinese history. In the beginning of the twentieth-century, China was beleaguered by the threat of foreign invasion, territorial loss, economic depression, a collapsing empire and the pressing need for industrialization and modernization. The task of women’s emancipation was at the core of the ideological attack on the traditional Confucian patriarchal system, which is said to have confined women to the inner chambers. Regulating women’s dressing and transforming how women present their body formed an integral part of the attack on feudalism and Chinese tradition. The Chinese approach to modernization created a discourse of liberal conservatism that fuses modernity appearance with a tradition core. Although women’s emancipation was much eulogized during the revolutionary period, the discourse was more often used as an ideological weapon for political purposes of nation-building and modernization. On the other hand, through public debates on fashion reforms, many female writers were using fashion as a site of contention and negotiation to express their own understanding of tradition, modernity, and nationalism.

Graduation Semester

2019-05

Type of Resource

text

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/105258

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2019 Lu Wang

Owning Collections