From Cultural Object To Cultural Commodity

Based on the ethnographic researches in two villages and one market of China-Vietnam border, this thesis presents as well as analyzes the social life of Hmong costume diachronically and synchronically. Aiming to indicate variations in costume symbols among different fields, I discuss the shifts in implications of Hmong costume throughout commodification and de-commodification. Namely, throughout its social life would encounter a lot. Thus, it constitutes plentiful cultural biography.The thesis consists of an introduction, main text, in which four chapters are included, as well as a conclusion.Chapter one:Hmong costume as a cultural itemTracing back to traditional Hmong livelihood models and the fabric of Hmong society, I discuss the standing of linen clothes and linen in Hmong society. Furthermore, according to a series of local lore and collective memories, I analyze the meanings of the Hmong costume symbolic system and its significance in daily life, differentiating name of ethnic groups between selves and others. Also, I mention how the relations among gender, ethnic groups and clothes become fixed, noting disparate stories of cloth,clothes and the persons.Chapter Two:Based on reference works and interviews, this thesis is also concerned with the following questions:Are there any connections between the establishment of paths and markets in border area and the commodification (a cultural commodity instead of a cultural item) process of Hmong costume? Is there any significance for the commodification of Hmong costume? What’s the mechanism that enables Hmong costume to adapt to the market-oriented economy? Is it on the basis of gender or ethnic identity?Chapter Three:This thesis shows that the relations between Hmong costume and gender have undergone a metamorphosis. Namely, how the asymmetry relations between costume and gender take shape, what is the significance of social gender relationships or ethnic relations of lines of business for the reestablishment of social order. Furthermore, I analyze the connections between particular costume and ethnic groups, responding to the idea that the utilization of certain costume represents particular ethnic identity. Specifically, I depict how the Hmong identity takes shape in transumer processes, including the consumer sentiment and behavioral process in cross-border trades.Chapter Four:Rethinking the definition of ’tradition’. The old ’selves’, as ’others’, share disparate ’traditions’ with the new ’selves’. Dating back, traditions are, inevitably, the daughter of time. Besides, is it the ’thing’ that represents the ’self’ or the ’self’ that represents the ’thing’? Maybe the answer lies in ’fusion’. In other words, costumes cannot answer questions like ’who am I’; what ’I’ wear or what ’I’ do not wear cannot answer questions like’who am I’either.Conclusion:Hmong costumes around China-Vietnam border were cultural items that evolved into cultural commodities, which reappearing as plentiful social encounters of things as well as indicating transitions and integration of social relations in a dynamic course. Based on these analyses, I suggest that the social life of things refers to both their diachronic encounters and the network formed by synchronic flowing trajectories. Besides, people not only construct themselves in consuming and utilizing things, but also deconstruct themselves in this process. Namely, we are all part of the era in commodities.