scholarly journals Reading Dress: Fashion And Friendship In A Little Princess And Anne Of Green Gables

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Marcus

This Major Research Project (MRP) argues that fashion is a key tool for the critical examination of textual and visual works. Specifically, this research illustrates fashion’s impact on the social identities of young female protagonists in early-twentieth-century adolescent literature, through a comparative literary study of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Engaging theories of fashion, literature, and girl culture, as well as theories of semiotics and fashion diffusion, dress is shown to be instrumental in developing episodes of closeness and friendship for the protagonists in these novels, along with moments that may isolate them. This MRP examines the illustrations and accompanying textual descriptions found in the 1905 (London) and 1908 (Boston) editions of each work in order to expose fashion’s mirroring and shaping of social identity; ultimately, this study reveals the tension between fashion’s ability to both cement and subvert dominant cultural norms and ideals at the turn of the century.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jaclyn Marcus

This Major Research Project (MRP) argues that fashion is a key tool for the critical examination of textual and visual works. Specifically, this research illustrates fashion’s impact on the social identities of young female protagonists in early-twentieth-century adolescent literature, through a comparative literary study of A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett and Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery. Engaging theories of fashion, literature, and girl culture, as well as theories of semiotics and fashion diffusion, dress is shown to be instrumental in developing episodes of closeness and friendship for the protagonists in these novels, along with moments that may isolate them. This MRP examines the illustrations and accompanying textual descriptions found in the 1905 (London) and 1908 (Boston) editions of each work in order to expose fashion’s mirroring and shaping of social identity; ultimately, this study reveals the tension between fashion’s ability to both cement and subvert dominant cultural norms and ideals at the turn of the century.


Literator ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Noomé

This article proposes that two alternative forms of the “Bildungsroman” developed from circa 1860 to 1960, featuring young female protagonists and aimed at girls as a readership. To explore this proposition, the article initially focuses on three girls’ series to see whether they meet the criteria for classification as a “Bildungsroman”: the South African “Soekie” series written in Afrikaans by Ela Spence, the well-known Canadian “Anne of Green Gables” series by L.M. Montgomery, and the German “Pucki” series by Magda Trott. In these series girls have to learn through experience as they move toward happiness and maturity. Secondly, the article explores the presentation of the female quest, as well as some development options “in parallel” in such novels as Louisa May Alcott’s now classic “Little women” and “Good wives”. The article concludes that some novels for girls move towards an exploration of personal development from childhood to maturity, but that the criteria for the “Bildungsroman” should be adjusted to include forms other than the single novels and novels focused on one protagonist that are more typical of the “male” “Bildungsroman”. It also suggests that the criteria for maturity, self-actualisation and social integration need qualification in the “female” version of this genre.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-199
Author(s):  
KATHRYN WALLS

According to the ‘Individual Psychology’ of Alfred Adler (1870–1937), Freud's contemporary and rival, everyone seeks superiority. But only those who can adapt their aspirations to meet the needs of others find fulfilment. Children who are rejected or pampered are so desperate for superiority that they fail to develop social feeling, and endanger themselves and society. This article argues that Mahy's realistic novels invite Adlerian interpretation. It examines the character of Hero, the elective mute who is the narrator-protagonist of The Other Side of Silence (1995) , in terms of her experience of rejection. The novel as a whole, it is suggested, stresses the destructiveness of the neurotically driven quest for superiority. Turning to Mahy's supernatural romances, the article considers novels that might seem to resist the Adlerian template. Focusing, in particular, on the young female protagonists of The Haunting (1982) and The Changeover (1984), it points to the ways in which their magical power is utilised for the sake of others. It concludes with the suggestion that the triumph of Mahy's protagonists lies not so much in their generally celebrated ‘empowerment’, as in their transcendence of the goal of superiority for its own sake.


Author(s):  
Vasilios Gialamas ◽  
Sofia Iliadou Tachou ◽  
Alexia Orfanou

This study focuses on divorces in the Principality of Samos, which existed from 1834 to 1912. The process of divorce is described according to the laws of the rincipality, and divorces are examined among those published in the Newspaper of the Government of the Principality of Samos from the last decade of the Principality from 1902 to 1911. Issues linked to divorce are investigated, like the differences between husbands and wives regarding the initiation and reasons for requesting a divorce. These differences are integrated in the specific social context of the Principality, and the qualitative characteristics are determined in regard to the gender ratio of women and men that is articulated by the invocation of divorce. The aim is to determine the boundaries of social identities of gender with focus on the prevailing perceptions of the social roles of men and women. Gender is used as a social and cultural construction. It is argued that the social gender identity is formed through a process of “performativity”, that is, through adaptation to the dominant social ideals.


Think India ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 434-438
Author(s):  
R. CELIN DIANA

MRS. R. CELIN DIANA A female is God's lovable creature to balance man. She is mentally and physically weak through creation itself, but she express her feelings unexpectedly in the battle against her. She is even spoiled for that. A women’s picture is a central theme to literature writings around the globe. The writings of Anita Nair is concerned with man, females, nature, true life, and social convention. She explores the existential struggle of her protagonists in most of her novels. Nair describes particularly, how Indian women are exploited, abused, marginalized even in the modern times both by individuals and by the society. Apart from the society women are tossed even by her family members. Anita Nair emphasizes the need for creating awareness in women. Her female protagonists are conscious of the injustice in marriage brought to them.Probably, the protagonists of Nair’s novels denies to flow along the current.  They seem to be adamant or aggressive, but the fact is that they underwent much pain and suffering. Apart from the pain the protagonists are the losers of life, respect, family, dignity and everything. This paper is an effort to bring to light the pathetic conditions of the protagonists,and to study the social, family and economic picture of women's suffering in life. Though the protagonist characters are brave, they seem pathetic and losers of a common simple life, they dream to live. Anita Nair defines circumstances or occurrences that harm or kill characters due to the aggressive nature of characters in her novels.


Semiotica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Min

Abstract As the representative of Chinese classical works, the Analects represents a source of difficulty in both understanding and interpretation of Confucian philosophy. Confucian philosophy as a philosophy of creativity and otherness is closely related with the social and cultural values in society. Therefore, the study of Confucian philosophy in the Analects cannot be separated from the descriptive study of the effects of any and all aspects of society, including cultural norms, expectations, contexts, language use, and the effects of language use on society. This article attempts to explore how the meaning of Confucian philosophy in the Analects is interpreted and accepted by Western readers through complex social semiotic interactions. The article focuses on the interpretation of Confucian philosophy as a reflection of cultural assumptions, values and prohibitions, and the manipulation of the social semiotic resources in the process of understanding, translation, and acceptance of Confucian philosophy in the Analects through a discussion of its original text, different versions and the reasons behind the social semiotic activities. The article concludes with a consideration of significant social semiotic interactions that influence the translator’s interpretation and reader’s acceptance of Confucian philosophy so as to facilitate intercultural understanding.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146954052110160
Author(s):  
Tiziana Brenner Beauchamp Weber ◽  
Eliane C. Francisco Maffezzolli

This research identifies the relationship between consumption practices and the construction of social identity among tweens in a Brazilian context. Using consumer culture theory and social identity theory, we employed 80 h of observation, 9 interviews, and projective techniques with fifteen girls. Three social identity groups were acknowledged: naive, connected, and counselors. These groups revealed different identity projects, such as the integration and maintenance within the social group of current belonging, the access to the social group with the greater distinctions, the generation of differentiable and positive distinctions (both intra- and intergroups), and the expression and consolidation of identity and its respective consumption practices. This research contributes to the consumption literature that relates to consumer identity projects. The findings reveal a current resignification of girlhood and exposes tweens’ consumption practices as a direct mechanism of the expression and construction of their social identities. These are mechanisms of social identity construction as mediated by group relations through the processes of access, maintenance, integration, differentiation, and distinction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 146801732110102
Author(s):  
Chau-kiu Cheung

Summary Despite the common basis of cognitive theory for cognitive counseling and social competence development, no research has charted the effectiveness of the counseling in raising social competence in young female residents of the residential service. To examine the effectiveness, this study analyzed data gleaned from monthly surveys of young female residents and their social workers regarding the latter’s daily life cognitive counseling. The data consisted of 391 cases pairing the female residents and social workers in Hong Kong over 33 months. Findings The cases afforded a cross-lagged analysis showing the raising of the girl’s social competence by the worker’s cognitive counseling earlier in the previous month. In substantiating this raising, the analysis also indicated that earlier social competence did not affect the counseling. Applications The findings imply the worth of promoting the social worker’s daily life cognitive counseling to advance girl residents’ social competence. Such counseling is particularly helpful to girls with lower education, who are lower in social competence.


Res Publica ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 36 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 343-359
Author(s):  
Marc Jacquemain ◽  
René Doutrelepont ◽  
Michel Vandekeere

At first view, the methodology of survey research may seem rather unsuitable to the study of such "holistic" phenomena as collective and social identities.  That difficulty vanishes - at least partly - as soon as we consider social identity as the link between the individual and his belongings, as does the "social identity theory", developed from the work of Taffel and Turner.  From there on, survey research may prove to be a useful device to cope with some main characteristics of social identity: mainly its variability among groups and classes within a same society and its particular sensitivity to socio-political contexts.  Survey research, combined with the social identity theory may help to test historical assumptions at a macro-social level. It may also give some ''flesh" and some additional realism to the micro-theories of social behaviour, which are too often limited by their conception of a strictly rational and interested agent.


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