Fabrics of Indianness: The Exchange and Consumption of Clothing in Transnational Guyanese Hindu Communities

ISBN-13: 9781137565402 / Angielski / Twarda / 2016 / 311 str.

Sinah Theres Kloss

Opis

This book describes how Guyanese Hindus recreate Indian ethnic identity in contemporary Guyana and examines how Hindu traditions have been transformed in this multi-religious and multi-ethnic society.

Spis treści

List of Figures

Acknowledgements

Chapter 1: Guyanese Hinduism and the Study of Clothing: An Introduction

Socio-historical Context and Religious Groups in Guyana

Guyanese Hindu Traditions

Guyanese Transnationalism and the Concept of Translocality

Methodology

The Study of Clothing and Dress

Clothing, Closeness, and Migration

Outline of the Book

Resemblance, Imitation, and Consumption

Intimacy, Touch, and Exchange

Chapter 2: Negotiating ‘Indianness’ Through Indian Wear

Defining ‘Indian Wear’

The Ambiguous ‘Long Skirt’

Dressing Up for Puja

Indian Wear and Ethnic Identity

Indian Ethnic Identity and the African ‘Other’

Indian Revitalization

Nuh-propriate Clothes and the Influence of Bollywood Movies

Contested Indianness

The ‘Indian Indian’ as Indian ‘Other’

Indo-Caribbeanness

Mastering the Sari: Dress and the Performance of Indianness

Degrees of Indianness?

Chapter 3: Stitching Readymade Dhotis: The Social History of Indian Wear in Guyana

‘Overseas Clothing’

Selfmade Clothes and Indian Wear

Branding ‘Foreign’ Status

Stitching Authority?

‘Superior’ Dress, Conversion, and Social Upward Mobility

Dressing Respectably: Dress Codes and Draped Clothes

Adapting English Wear: White Dresses and Orhni

Hindu Male ‘Effeminacy’ and Indian Wear

Stitching Dhotis

Chapter 4: Uniform(ity) Through Color: The Invention of Madrassi Vestment

The ‘Invention’ of the Madras Tradition

Processes of Standardization

Creating Madras ‘Authenticity’

Creating the Garment

The ‘Invention’ of Vestment

Uniform(ity)

Contested Discipline

Unifying Color

The Stigma of Being Madrassi

Chapter 5: (Ex)Changing the Deity’s Clothes

“Cyan leff a God naked”: Dressing the Deity

Matching Murti Clothes

The Practice of Charhaway

“Give from your brows, your sweat”

The Joint Family as Contributor

Sending Ritual Contributions

Photographs as Substitutes

Sharing Mudda’s Saris

Barrel-sending in a Madrassi Community

Wearing Mudda’s Clothes

Chapter 6: Staying in Touch, Dwelling in Clothes: Barrels, Gift-Giving, and Migration

To ‘Send Back’ Gifts

Barrel-sending and the Exchange of Clothing

The Barrel as Joint Effort

Giving Used Clothes

Clothing as Dwelling Structure

Bodies and Clothing in Exchange

Contact and Touch

‘Physical’ and ‘Spiritual’ Bodies

Throwing Spirits Pon Clothes

Energies and Substances

Used Clothing as Memory and Presence

Giving as Consumption

Touched Clothing

‘Nation’ and Caste Identities

New and Used, Clean and Polluted

Wearing Prasadam

Cleaning Bodies, Washing Clothes

Barrels and Thrift

Gifts of Used Clothing as Disposal?

Sending Thrifty Barrels

In Guyana, “Things Finish So Fast”

Thrift and Indian Identity

‘Recycling’ Used Clothes: Thrifty and Wasteful Disposal

Chapter 8: Conclusion

O autorze

Sinah Theres Kloß is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Global South Studies Center, University of Cologne, Germany, and Research Fellow at the Center for Religion, Economy and Politics at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She is co-editor of Caribbean Food Cultures: Culinary Practices and Consumption in the Caribbean and Its Diasporas.      

Blurb

This book describes how Guyanese Hindus recreate Indian ethnic identity in contemporary Guyana and examines how Hindu traditions have been transformed in this multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. By illustrating the exchange and consumption of clothing, the book demonstrates that the practices of wearing and gifting clothes materialize and visualize relationships. The significant outward migration of Guyanese to North America has resulted in substantial international gift exchange and transnational rituals. Applying the concept of translocality, this book demonstrates that different localities continue to influence transnational networks and socio-cultural practices. It provides a study of migration that emphasizes various aspects of material and visual closeness, conceptualizing the notion of touch.