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Versioning Womanhood and Muslimhood: ‘Fashion’ and the Life Course in Contemporary Bouaké, Côte D'ivoire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2011

Marie Nathalie LeBlanc
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Abstract

On the strength of research in 1992–95 and 1998 this article discusses the way Muslim women dress in Bouaké, Côte D'Ivoire, and what it tells us about the trajectory of their lives and view of the world. Arguing that fashion is emblematic of processes of identification, it seeks to explain how young women come to be situated and position themselves in these processes. To do so, it examines the processes through a life course analysis that takes into account local versionings of tradition and aesthetics, Muslim cosmology and ideals of Western modernity. The article shows that as young women gain social maturity and assume the socially defined status of adult they dress and act increasingly in a manner that emphasises Muslim identity. The various ways in which they use dress reflect the stance they adopt towards competing versionings of Islam.

Résumé

A travers l'étude empirique de la mode et des pratiques vestimentaires, cet article examine les trajectoires de vie et le milieu de vie de jeunes Musulmanes dans la ville de Bouaké, Côte D'Ivoire. La discussion provient de données ethnographiques recueillies entre 1992 et 1995, et en 1998. Tout en proposant que les choix vestimentaires sont emblématiques de processus D'identification qui marquent à la fois l'individu et la communauté, l'article cherche à cerner les modalités de l'insertion de ces jeunes femmes dans ces processus. Pour ce faire, l'auteur utilise l'approche de l'analyse du cours de la vie (“life course analysis”) D'où ressortent les divers espaces identitaires qui marquent les trajectoires de vie de ces jeunes femmes. Ces espaces s'articulent autour des constructions locales de la tradition et de l'esthétique, de la cosmologie islamique et des idéaux de la modernité. Cette analyse mène à deux conclusions. Dans un premier temps, l'acquisition D'une maturité sociale et l'insertion dans le statut social D'adulte entraînent une surenchère des identités islamiques, exprimées à travers les pratiques vestimentaires. De plus, les choix vestimentaires expriment une prise de position face aux divergentes notions de l'Islam.

Type
Research Article
Information
Africa , Volume 70 , Issue 3 , August 2000 , pp. 442 - 481
Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2000

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