| What is the nature of curiosity? Why do people desire to be fashionable? Why do some seek out the new and the strange while others prefer the old and the familiar? What is the relationship between invention and imitation? What roles do status, wealth, and social position play in the development of clothing styles? What is the difference between a gift and a payment for services? What kind of behavior is associated with generosity? This dissertation addresses these questions in relation to the works of Hans Sachs and other sixteenth-century writers. Its methodology is that of a sociological word study. It examines the relationships of certain key lexemes to each other, determining how terms are used as antonyms or synonyms, what concepts are grouped together, and where lines are drawn between ideas. What conclusions does the study reach? In early modern texts, curiosity and the desire to be fashionable are treated as the same type of human urge. The new and the strange are carefully defined in contrast to the old and ordinary in order to create norms of fashion and costume. Invention and imitation are treated as the same type of sin. The rags of the poor have some things in common with the stylish fashions of the rich. There is not a simple distinction between the gift and the purchase. Instead, the concept of schencken entails a tremendously complicated interaction between the giver and the receiver. The transfer of a "gift" involves not only the material value of the objects or services transferred, but also the prestige of the parties involved, their expectations, and their uncertainty about what will happen as a result of the exchange. The term milt can describe not only generosity, but also selfish, prodigal consumption. This family of concepts related to clothing in early modern literature displays salient contrasts with the corresponding relationships between ideas in medieval and modern societies, but it functions with its own logic and reveals surprising insights into the nature of fashion and gift giving. |
