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The Empire of Fashion (2002)

 
지은이 : R. Sennett
출판사 : Princeton
판수 : 1 edition
페이지수 : 296 pages
ISBN : 0691102627
예상출고일 : 입금확인후 2일 이내
주문수량 : 개
도서가격 : 23,300원
적립금 : 699 Point
     

 

In a book full of playful irony and striking insights, the controversial social philosopher Gilles Lipovetsky draws on the history of fashion to demonstrate that the modern cult of appearance and superficiality actually serves the common good. Focusing on clothing, bodily deportment, sex roles, sexual practices, and political rhetoric as forms of "fashion," Lipovetsky bounds across two thousand years of history, showing how the evolution of fashion from an upper-class privilege into a vehicle of popular expression closely follows the rise of democratic values. Whereas Tocqueville feared that mass culture would create passive citizens incapable of political reasoning, Lipovetsky argues that today's mass-produced fashion offers many choices, which in turn enable consumers to become complex individuals within a consolidated, democratically educated society.


Superficiality fosters tolerance among different groups within a society, claims Lipovetsky. To analyze fashion's role in smoothing over social conflict, he abandons class analysis in favor of an inquiry into the symbolism of everyday life and the creation of ephemeral desire. Lipovetsky examines the malaise experienced by people who, because they can fulfill so many desires, lose their sense of identity. His conclusions raise disturbing questions about personal joy and anguish in modern democracy.
Gilles Lipovetsky teaches philosophy in Grenoble. He is the author of "L'Ere du vide" and "Le Crepuscule du devoir," both published by Gallimard.

































































Foreword
Introduction 3
Pt. 1 The Enchantment of Appearances
Ch. I Fashion and the West: The Aristocratic Moment 18
Ch. II A Century of Fashion 55
Ch. III Open Fashion 88
Pt. 2 Consummate Fashion
Ch. IV The Seduction of Things 134
Ch. V Advertising on the Offensive 156
Ch. VI Culture, Media Style 174
Ch. VII Meaning Carries On 203
Ch. VIII The Progressive Shifting of the Social 226
Epilogue 242
Notes 253
Works Cited 265
Index 271
Praise for the French edition: "It is no easy thing to find an intellectual who succumbs to the futile charm of fashion, who is turned on by the seduction of the ephemeral and mocks the 'beautiful souls' who crusade against rock music and channel surfing. Now, we have finally met that rare bird, that apostle of the postmodern: his name is Gilles Lipovetsky. -- "Le Monde

This book makes sense of what might otherwise appear derisory, a book that permits us to understand what blinds us by being right before our eyes. -- "Esprit

[Lipovetsky's] is an undifferentiated celebration of modern narcissistic freedom: a defense of bourgeois individualism without the constraints of bourgeois morality. . . . [Lipovetsky is] engaged in the contemporary predicament. He sees the sophistication of modern advertising: he is alive to the social possibilities of our cultural transformation. . . And because he embraces, rather than merely dismisses, the new age, he understands it better. -- Andrew Sullivan, The New Republic

Like all books that really count, Lipovetsky's possesses the virtue of breaking the commonplace consensus. . . . [It is a] savory analysis of the infinite detail of the meanderings in the ephemeral. His thesis is fundamentally the following: if it is clear that fashion is a mix of conformity and of individual choice, its very emergence as a historical phenomenon manifests a global and typically Western logic, that of the break with tradition. -- Luc Ferry, L'Express

This books will entice scholars but is also readily accessible . . . and of interest to many general readers. This makes it a rare find among its kind. -- "Library Journal

Defining it to include not just clothing styles but also sex roles, political rhetoric, and other forms of expression, [Lipovetsky] argues that fashion promotes innovation over tradition and individuality over conformity. . . . Lipovetsky aims not to convince, but merely to sway. . . . his ideas are seductive in their audacity. -- Etelka Lehoczky, The Boston Phoenix Literary Section

By its nature, fashion is unstable, ephemeral and superficial: exactly the features of social relations in today's democratic polities. No need for concern, according to [Gilles] Lipovetsky. The less we feel or care about each other, the better we will get along. . . . An impersonal social structure is an ideal setting for mutual tolerance and the reduction of conflict. . . . A brilliantly original argument becomes dazzling when the principles of fashion--obsolescence, seduction, diversification--are extended to analyse a consumer society in which novelty is paramount, and identity shattered into fragments. Far from homogenising us, as many early writers suspected, mass culture has accelerated the process of individualization. And that can heighten the capacity for social integration. -- "New Statesman & Society

Lipovetsky has written an eclectic book that moves easily from discussing Tocqueville or Kant to analyzing the impact of the length of ladies' hemlines on our political culture. -- Adam Wolfson, The Public Interest

Surveying 2,000 years of global history, [Gilles] Lipovetsky claims that fashion provides the means for stability in modern Western capitalist democracies. . . . Attempts to understand the relationships between consumer-driven desires and natural desires in modern, mass-culture democracies lead Lipovetsky to provocative conclusions. . . . [this work] offers refreshing insights into today's social structure. -- "Choice

Lipovetsky argues that with the haute couture in decline, with multiculturalism and dissolving social classes, we are increasingly prompted to acquire things for our private uses, without reference to other people. We buy a VCR not to impress, since everybody has one, but to watch movies. -- Diane Johnson, New York Review of Books
"In keeping with the style of 20th Century French social theorists, Lipovetsky presents a post-modern theory of fashion as it has evolved from the 19th century tailors to the modern day fashion house. Although some statements should be taken with a pinch of salt, this theory of fashion as great equalizer is incredibly interesting to ponder. Certainly a different view of haute couture and design than that which is generally put forth. "

"Unlike the stuffy American academics who turn their nose up
at the world of fashion, Lipovetsky realizes the importance of
fashion - not just as a result of liberalism and/or capitalism -
but as a contributor to these structures.

Lipovetsky basically argues that modern fashion contributes
to democratization by allowing individuals more choices and also by
obscuring social classes (Does Bill Gates dress signify his social
or financial superiority in any way?).
He also gives a pretty concise and coherent history of fashion
which helps us understand where we stand today.
On top of all that, it's well written. I don't know whether to thank him
or Porter for that.
All and all, an outstanding and entertaining rejection of the tedious, reductive
Marxist explanations of fashion. "

"In this book Lipovetsky makes explicit ideas that one could find in a more timid way in earlier books. The basic idea of his thought is that fragmentation of society does not, in the way it is thought commonly, mean destruction of morals or democracy. On the contrary, democracy is formed by the powers that are able to join fragmentation and continuity. This is what he shows with fashion. Fashion is from where he can understand what is "the essence" (although it isn't an essenciallist thought)of Western Culture. He uses the concept of fashion to synthetize the opposites: fragmentaed indivilualistic society and universal democratic society. As Hegel, he sees the union of both opposites through the whole reconstruction of Fashion. Not science or Reason but fashion is what explains us better what we are and why we are like that. "
   
 
   
 
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