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Bodywork: Dress as Cultural Tool
Dress and Demeanour in the South of Senegal
Series: - African Social Studies Series, Volume: 7
Author:
This book looks at the encounter between dress and the body. In the social sciences, dress tends to be viewed as a form of communication, a way in which the wearer gives expression to his or her ideas or situation. 'Bodywork', rather than looking at what people do with their clothes, looks at what clothes do with the wearers.
In the context of three small West African communities â Muslim, Christian and Animist â the book describes the dress styles and dress practices of the villagers and shows how a particular way of dressing influences the body's demeanour and habit. It considers thereby the role played by dress in the enculturation of the body.
In the context of three small West African communities â Muslim, Christian and Animist â the book describes the dress styles and dress practices of the villagers and shows how a particular way of dressing influences the body's demeanour and habit. It considers thereby the role played by dress in the enculturation of the body.
Janet Andrewes has a Ph.D. (2001) in Cultural Anthropology from the Free University of Amsterdam. With a background in fashion and dressmaking, she has worked for the last twenty years with another form of communication - language - as translator and editor.
'Her strength is connecting the body and dress as a totality that acknowledges movement as an integral part of understanding dress. Her in-depth fieldwork analysis to support that point with the comparison and contrast of the three locations is excellent'.
Joanne Eicher.
'Andrewes's emphasis on bodily comportment in relation to distinctive types of dress worn by Diola women and men, ..... make this book an important contribution to the recent literature on African dress and the body'. E.P. Renne, University of Michigan in Choice.
Joanne Eicher.
'Andrewes's emphasis on bodily comportment in relation to distinctive types of dress worn by Diola women and men, ..... make this book an important contribution to the recent literature on African dress and the body'. E.P. Renne, University of Michigan in Choice.