Un Modo de la Moda: Shaping Social Constructs and Changing Societal Classes Through Clothing as Symbolism in Hispanic Literature

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Authors

Daley, Clare

Date of Issue

2025-04-25

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Presentation

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en_US

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Abstract

Literature has long been a medium to explore symbolism and identity. Hispanic literature is exemplary of the genre as it ranges from Latin America to Europe, providing broad perspectives on what it means to be human. While literature is not a visual art, the words weave a story that materializes characters from their personalities to the clothes they wear. Regarding clothing, sometimes symbolism can come from simple garments such as a slip, stockings, or an apron. In addition to being in the title, clothing plays other roles in “La camisa de Margarita” (“Margaret’s Slip”) by Ricardo Palma, “Las medias rojas” (“The Red Stockings”) by Emila Pardo Bazán, and El delantal blanco (The White Apron) by Sergio Vodanović. Garments transcend literature, with real world examples of fashion breaking the mold from the concept of majismo in Spain, to the Zoot Suit Riots in Los Angeles, and, lastly, to the political campaign of los descamisados (sans-culottes/the shirtless ones) in the speeches of Eva Perón. In the book Gender and the Boundaries of Dress in Peru, Blenda Femenías analyzes clothing in terms of anthropology, seeing the intersection of women, artistry, and power as “a unified form of cultural expression.” Considering this, what does wearing this common clothing symbolize for women as characterized in Hispanic literature? In this presentation I will argue that clothing is a way to reject the pre-established social construct of classes, changing the roles played by women in society and in their own lives.

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