The Despotism of Fashion Style: Societal Control Over Individual Expression in Blues pour Élise by Leonora Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabancko
Document Type
Presentation
Location
434 Hodges / Zoom Room A
Start Date
28-3-2025 11:20 AM
End Date
28-3-2025 11:40 AM
Description
In today’s fast-paced world, fashion is one of the most popular topics on every lips. A quick search on some of the biggest social media platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat will confirm this observation. The youths, popularly called the " Gen Z,” are among the most interested in this topic. Fashion for them is a way of expressing themselves. It reveals their unique tastes, their styles, their intricacies and sensibilities. The dictionnaire Larousse defines fashion as : “les habitudes collectives et passagères en matière d’habillement” (1648), { collective and transient habits in terms of clothing}. The Oxford online dictionary throws more light on this phenomenon, presenting it as: “ a popular style of clothes, hair, etc at a particular time or place” (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com). Due to its undeniable importance and inevitability, various organizations like Amnesty International have continually agitated for the rights of Individuals to choose and determine their own dressing styles. However, contemporary literary works like Blues Pour Elise by Leonaro Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabanckou have in fact revealed the incredibility of this position. In the two novels, fashion is presented a powerful tool through which individual expressions are tainted by societal control. Besides, in today’s 21st-century societies characterized by market domination and increased manipulation by the forces of the media, one might as well ask if we dress the way we want to or the way we are supposed to. Therefore, while making reference to the Foucault’s theory of power and knowledge and the Marxist Critique of Fashion, this paper will examine how societal norms and cultural expectations shape and dictate individuals fashion choices and experiences in Blues Pour Élise by Leonaro Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabanckou. We will explore fashion as a tool for conformity and resistance in a literary universe characterized by exclusion on the basis of appearance, class or the color of the skin. Ultimately our aim is to contribute to current discussions on identity in the literary scene.
The Despotism of Fashion Style: Societal Control Over Individual Expression in Blues pour Élise by Leonora Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabancko
434 Hodges / Zoom Room A
In today’s fast-paced world, fashion is one of the most popular topics on every lips. A quick search on some of the biggest social media platforms like Google, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat will confirm this observation. The youths, popularly called the " Gen Z,” are among the most interested in this topic. Fashion for them is a way of expressing themselves. It reveals their unique tastes, their styles, their intricacies and sensibilities. The dictionnaire Larousse defines fashion as : “les habitudes collectives et passagères en matière d’habillement” (1648), { collective and transient habits in terms of clothing}. The Oxford online dictionary throws more light on this phenomenon, presenting it as: “ a popular style of clothes, hair, etc at a particular time or place” (www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com). Due to its undeniable importance and inevitability, various organizations like Amnesty International have continually agitated for the rights of Individuals to choose and determine their own dressing styles. However, contemporary literary works like Blues Pour Elise by Leonaro Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabanckou have in fact revealed the incredibility of this position. In the two novels, fashion is presented a powerful tool through which individual expressions are tainted by societal control. Besides, in today’s 21st-century societies characterized by market domination and increased manipulation by the forces of the media, one might as well ask if we dress the way we want to or the way we are supposed to. Therefore, while making reference to the Foucault’s theory of power and knowledge and the Marxist Critique of Fashion, this paper will examine how societal norms and cultural expectations shape and dictate individuals fashion choices and experiences in Blues Pour Élise by Leonaro Miano and Black Bazar by Alain Mabanckou. We will explore fashion as a tool for conformity and resistance in a literary universe characterized by exclusion on the basis of appearance, class or the color of the skin. Ultimately our aim is to contribute to current discussions on identity in the literary scene.