Progressive in the West, backward in the East: Shalwar’s trials with modernity
Year: 2022
Type: article
Abstract: About a century ago, women in the US and western Europe looked to ‘Turkish pantaloons’ (shalwar) for freedom and were shamed, harassed, and even arrested for wearing them. Meanwhile, people of all genders in Turkey and Bulgaria moved freely in shalwar until modern nation-building projects imposed Western restrictive dress that rigidly delineated the boundaries of masculinity and femininity. Considering shalwar's recent elevated status as trendy global fashion attire, what is the public discourse of shalwar in Bulgaria and Turkey? Can clothing shunned as backward be recontextualized as modern? What can clothing illuminate about gender, modernity, and geopolitics? To answer these questions, I analyse over two hundred Turkish and Bulgarian primary sources through critical transculturalism and critical race theory.
Author: Yasemin Y Celikkol
Institution: Northwestern University in Qatar
Language: English
Subfield: Museology
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Gender equality
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4280567705