Self-telling place, identity and dress in lifestyle migration memoirs

Self-telling place, identity and dress in lifestyle migration memoirs

While there has been significant discussion of the intertwined roles of mobility and identity, little has been written about these two factors in relation to an important third factor, dress. This paper examines dress and identity within two lifestyle migration memoirs, as forms of media such as these create socially situated imagined places where readers can explore new lives and ways of being. Using a culturally oriented framework to examine the moving parts of mobility, identity and dress within text and place, this paper engages with Carol Tulloch's theory that styling the body is self-telling, whereby dress reveals autobiographical details about the self through clothing choices. It argues that moving from one place to another begins a process of change, and that clothes are used to signify this process to others. This paper contributes to understanding the transformative process of migration, particularly as it relates to imaginative explorations associated with texts. It also contributes to another underdeveloped field, the study of dress in rural areas. Its original application of Tulloch's theory along with broader social theories, within a discussion of lifestyle migration discourse and dress, means that it differs from previous migration research.

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