Week 5

Cultural-Political Representations and Struggles

National Colors

Zoe Martin

The article “National Colors”  focuses on the difference in how clothing in Vietnam is used for representation, rather than the Western culture’s purpose for expression. In the West, people use clothing to express who they are or how they want to be perceived; however, in Eastern culture, clothing is predominantly used for membership. It can determine what groups you are associated with, where you are from or even create political statements.

Furthermore, textiles are a big part of dress used to symbolize membership. The reading included a quote that stated that textiles are the truest expression of Vietnamese culture--they can express “traditional cultural identity, the historical and cultural development process and of cultural interaction between ethnic groups” and patterns preserve culture. This drew a parallel with one of the articles I found during my library research titled, “Crystallographic patterns in Philippine indigenous textiles.” This article analyzed the symmetry within indigenous Philippine textiles to determine weaving techniques used and the culture it came from. To do so, they looked at weaving techniques, decorative dyeing, and decorative weaving. Research showed that the symmetries in pattern and color related to the weaving techniques and cultures that they came from. Thus, I wonder, has a similar qualitative study been done to analyze indigenous  Vietnamese textiles and their patterns and origins?

A figure from "Crystallographic patterns in Philippine indigenous textiles"