Design Thesis Research || Preliminary Research
Arong, M. R., & Hempel, D. (2017). Towards a Philippine Transnation: Dreaming a Philippines in Ninotchka Rosca’s state of war. ARIEL, 48(2), 53-. Gale Academic OneFile Select.
Notes: Speaks to the question of what the current Filipino identity is and the heterogeneity of it. I’m interested in the homogenous nature of fashion as a result of colonialism and eurocentric ideology, and this article speaks to the post-colonial culture of the Philippines and perhaps how Filipinos now define themselves. This poses the question of how far has 300 years of colonization removed Filipino culture from what it had been pre-contact, and in what areas are we now grappling with the aftermath of colonialism.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines
Summary: This novel explores the heterogeneity of Filipino culture as a result of 300 years of colonization by the Spanish and many years after by the US. An examination of the country's narrative history, Arong and Hempel discuss the ways in which Filipino culture, the present one as we see it, is a weaving of the ideologies of its colonizers and which has been molded and shaped by the violent history the country is steeped in.
Barry, B. (2019). Fabulous Masculinities: Refashioning the Fat and Disabled Male Body. Fashion Theory, 23(2), 275–307. https://doi.org/10.1080/1362704X.2019.1567064
Notes: There are many issues of morality in regards to fashion but one of the most prevalent is the way in which fashion has often served to dictate the ideal body for both women and men. This article provides significant insight into the ways in which the homogenous and exclusive nature of the fashion industry has served to marginalize individuals that do not possess the ideal characteristics of a “fashionable body”. The way in which Barry argues the separation of fashion from the body as a means of taking agency over the industries expectations and aesthetics, is essential to dismantling the fatphobic and often classist nature of fashion and speaks to a way in which it can be further combated in the future.
Keywords: Fashion, Classism, Fatphobia
Summary: An examination of traditional masculinity as dictated by popular fashion trends, and an attempt to queer these notions by redefining the notion of masculinity and male fashion as being separate and isolated from the physical body. Barry utilizes interviews with a variety of queer and transgender men that are fat or disabled and who have participated in fashion shows in order to demonstrate the ways in which these men have taken agency over the fashionable male aesthetic.
Flores, P. D. (2019). Social Realism: The Turns of a Term in the Philippines. Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 48, 78–91. https://doi.org/10.1086/706129
Notes: This article brings to attention the presence of anti-colonial sentiment of the FIlipino people in the 1900s and speaks to the way in which these sentiments were reflected in the art of its time. This specific article speaks to the state of colonial tensions during the US occupation of the Philippines, a period which has largely impacted the trajectory of the country's economy and current political affairs as well as the current culture as we see it today. There are many layers to the colonial history of the Philippines, and as such, to its complex cultural legacy, and this article provides important insight into how the country had been impacted by the influence of the US in addition to how it had guided the direction of its art.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines, Art
Summary: An examination of the social realist art movement in the Philippines, discussing the dissident nature of the artistic movement, and the way in which its subject could be seen as the product of post colonial discussion and historical imagination. This article focuses on the work of Antipas Delotavo and the artistic collective “Kaisahan”, in order to create a narrative of public dissatisfaction and unrest in response to US occupation of the Philippines during the 1900s.
Garces-Bacsal, R. M., Tupas, R., & Hernandez, J. F. (2016). A Filipino Grandmother Grimm: Subversion of Foreign Fairy Tales through Indigenization and Cultural Appropriation in Mga Kuwento ni Lola Basyang (The Stories of Grandmother Basyang). Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature, 54(1), 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1353/bkb.2016.0005
Notes: One of the most notable aspects I’ve gleaned from this article so far is its introduction of the factor of the early stages of childhood, and the role fairy tales play in the development of these children. Garces-Bascal, Tupas, and Hernandez, in examining the complexities of cultural identity and the process of defining ones cultural identity, place a particular emphasis on the ways in which this often begins from childhood. In the context of immigrant children in the US as well as for Children in the Philippines, the fairy tales which they are told begin to largely define the way in which they see their own culture, and the, as the articles refers to, “disneyfied” versions of fairytales that many children are born with and grow up with can largely dictate the trajectory of their relationship with their own cultures.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines, Pop Culture, Film, Mythology, Child Development, Literature
Summary: A study of Severino Reyes’s fairytales in Lola Basayang, a collection of indigenized western fairy tales meant to speak back against painful experiences of colonial life and the eurocentric nature of popular fairytales. This articles serves as an examination of colonialism through the lens of Filipino literature and the ways in which Filipinos are constantly redefining their cultural identity.
Garrido, M. (2013). The Ideology of the Dual City: The Modernist Ethic in the Corporate Development of Makati City, Metro Manila. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 37(1), 165–185. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2427.2011.01100.x
Notes: I’m interested in the specific examination of the notion of “spacial polarization” and the articles examination of the contrast of rich urban neighborhoods and shopping districts of Makati in contrast to the large “slums” surrounding them. This project illustrates the issue of colonialism and its impact in a very present day example of wealth inequality throughout the country of the Philippines while additionally speaking to the ways in which globalization, something often framed as economically beneficial to all countries involved, can exacerbate these issues and can even be considered an extension of colonial efforts.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines, Culture, Business, Globalism
Summary: This article examines the nature of “dual cities” through its examination and analysis of the City of Makati, a corporate led urban development in the post colonial nation of the Philippines. The example of Makati speaks both to the nature of present day globalization and its impact on urban development and planning, but additionally to the lingering influence of colonialism and the role it plays in the spatial composition of the city and the segregation that comes with it.
Ignacio, E. N. (2000). Ain’t I A Filipino (Woman)?: An Analysis of Authorship/Authority Through the Construction of “Filipina” on the Net. The Sociological Quarterly, 41(4), 551–572. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2000.tb00073.x
Notes: The issue of cultural identity and the process of reifying and defining a cultural identity by post-colonial communities framed by the context of technology and computer mediated communications speaks to a way the present state of society and its technological advancements has actually served the guide the direction of cultural revival and debate. I’m interested in understanding the ways in which individuals of conoloized groups have coped with the damage done to their communities and how they are attempting to cultivate their own cultural identities, so it is interesting to see how technology has guided the direction of this discussion, as well as the possible ways it has served to derail and pervert it.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines, Feminism, Computer Mediated Communications
Summary: An examination of cultural identity and Asian stereotypes through the lens of the intersecting studies of Post-Colonialism and Computer mediated communications, this article examines the process of defining and reifying a unified cultural identity for Filipino women in a newsgroup community in the Philippines.
Loughran, K. (2009). The Idea of Africa in European High Fashion: Global Dialogues. Fashion Theory, 13(2), 243–271. https://doi.org/10.2752/175174109X414277
Notes: This article speaks to improvements in the fashion industry in regards to diversity and representation, but also highlights the ways in which the industry still continues to frame “foreign” fashions as exotic and therefore as “other”, a means of marginalizing and determining the norm while also generalizing diverse and complex cultures as a single entity. Loughran’s discussion of the continued relevance and success of African art and fashion designs speaks to the prevalent significance of diversity in this era of globalization, and area which can be largely controversial and in need of improvements in regards to its approaches to empathy and respect for other cultures and in efforts to decentralize emphasis on the west.
Keywords: exoticism, European high fashion, globalization
Summary: An examination of the history of Exoticism in high fashion in relation to the “idea” of Africa. Loughran discusses how the influences of African culture have evolved to the present day relevance of African creators and designer in the high fashion industry, and how it has evolved beyond an artistic representation of African culture as the “other”.
Mako, S. (2012). Cultural Genocide and Key International Instruments: Framing the Indigenous Experience. International Journal on Minority and Group Rights, 19(2), 175–194. JSTOR.
Notes: This resource frames the nature of colonialism by the damages it inflicted on its colonized civilizations. The article’s emphasis on what defines cultural genocide by the legislation created to defend the rights of indigenous groups in colonized countries demonstrates the ways in which colonialism has served to destroy and remove indigenous cultures in ways that are largely damaging to the cultural identities of these groups. Demonstrates the way in which genocide through colonialism was not always outwardly and conspicuously violent, but also involved the erasure of native cultures. In regards to my thesis, I’m interested in further expanding upon the clear ways the damage of colonialism continues to prevail in present day society.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Philippines, Cultural Genocide, Indigenous Rights
Summary: An examination of the nature of cultural genocide as a result of colonialism through the discussion of present day legislation in previously colonized civilizations put into place to protect the rights of indigenous groups in order to shed light on the nature of cultural genocide and the extent of the crimes against them.
Narumi, H. (2000). Fashion orientalism and the limits of counter culture. Postcolonial Studies, 3(3), 311–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/13688790020005047
Notes: This article speaks to the eurocentric nature of fashion specifically in its tendency to pride its own judgement of other cultures of the individual cultures themselves. Narumi’s discussion of the ways in which the focus on the west as the homeland of fashion has driven eastern designers to create products that meet the standards of western tastes which are often driven by an idealised, orientalized east that is typically exaggerated and sensationalized so as to take from any individual culture in the East. Narumi’s notion of the “orientalising gaze” speaks to a problem of fashion that is highlighted in present day discussions of appropriation and provides a clear explanation as to why appropriation in fashion is an urgent issue.
Keywords: Colonialism, Cultural Identity, Asia, Cultural Appropriation, Orientalism, Fashion
Summary: Narumi examines the orientalizing of the Eastern culture in popular fashion and the tendency to frame the west as the Masters of fashion whose role it is to dictate the worth of “foreign” fashions and their designers. As such, Narumi further expands upon the way in which this practice has served to alter the global perception of eastern fashion.
Zara's maXhosa copycat designs equal fashion colonialism. (2018, April 26). Cape Times [South Africa], 8. https://link-gale-com.aurarialibrary.idm.oclc.org/apps/doc/A536186921/STND?u=auraria_main&sid=STND&xid=5499f9b3
Notes: While brief, this article speaks to a real life instance of the lack of morality of large global fashion retailers and the ways in which they regard small designers, specifically those of non-western countries. This article especially bring to light the need for diversity in fashion in a way that is both moral and genuine in a which brings attention to other culture from their own cultural lens rather than framed by Eurocentric and western-centric ideals.
Keywords: Colonialism, Fashion, Cultural Appropriation, Globalisation
Summary: A short article detailing the conflict of Zara’s appropriation of Laduma Ngxokolo designs for his brand MaXhosa, speaking to the issues of big fashion and globalization, and the problem of desiring “exotic” fashions, without paying attribution to those creators or cultures.