Feminine Image In Fashion Discourse: Soviet Magazines of 1920s and Russian Blogs

Methods

To assort the sources of the research material, we were using the thematic sampling method – all texts to be analyzed should be on fashion. To collect the research material we were mainly conducted by continuous sampling method. During the material analysis, we were using a discourse analysis, the method of semantic interpretation and component analysis.

Research material

Fashion discourse of Soviet magazines

As a result of research of fashion articles published in feminine press in 1920s, we pointed out several subjective modalities in fashion discourse serving to determine the image of women in analyzed epoch. Subjective modalities in our research are expressed by introductory modal words, classified in four groups.

1. Modal introductory word expressing accentuality : russ. [ Nakonets , v èpohu revoljucij gospodstvujushee znachenie priobretajut novye klassy obshestva, shto takzhe ne mozhet ne otrazhats’ja na vneshnih formah byta, tak kak vnosjats’ja novye esteticheskie trebovanija, novye tradicii dannogo klassa.] – eng. “ Finally , in a revolutionary epoch, the dominant sense is acquired by new social classes, that is also certainly reflected on exterior forms of daily life, as new forms of aesthetic requirements, new traditions of those classes are included” (Atelye, 1923, n. 1, p. 31).

In this example subjective modality is expressed by introductory word «finally» indicating the future social transformation. The connection between society and new aesthetic requirements is underlined, in other words the ideological need of a new of social hygiene is approved.

2. Introductory modal word expressing certainty :

russ. [Francuzskije kabluki osobenno vredny dlja berememmyh zhenshin. Krome togo, na takih kablukah ochen’ legko upast’, shto, konechno , ochen opasno pri beremennosti.] – eng. “French heels are especially harmful for pregnant women. Furthermore, it is very easy to fall down in those heels that are certainly very dangerous during pregnancy” (Rabotnitsa, 1925, n. 14, p. 24).

In this case subjective modality is expressed by introductory word «certainly», used to underline author’s conviction about what he is saying. By pointing out his certainty about the harm of french heels, author is expressing his negative attitude to the previous period of the bourgeois fashion in Russia before the revolution of 1917.

russ. [ Konechno , kazhdyj soznanijem ponimajet, kakoje gromadnoje znachenije imejet chistota i opr’jatnost’.] – eng. “ Certainly, everybody consciously understands the great importance of cleanliness and tidiness” (Rabotnitsa, 1925, n. 17, p. 23).

In this example the discursive marker of subjective modality “certainly” has the significance of author’s conviction that every reader should be agree about the importance of being clean and tidy concerning human’s appearance.

3. Introductory modal word expressing emotional evaluation:

russ. [ Сhego greha tait’ , esli zhens’hiny stoj’at v ocheredi za tualetnymi prinadlegnostjami, to stojat oni dl’ja muzhchin.] – eng. “ There is nothing to hide, if there are women standing in line for toiletries, they are standing there for men” (Atelye, 1927, n. 14, p. 7).

The example indicates the regret about women trying to attract men just by toiletries. The source of this regret leads to soviet ideology encouraging women to be equal to men in behavior and clothing.

russ. [ K neschastj’u , v dannoe vremja vhodit v modu raskrashivanije lica, shto tozhe vredno dejstvuet na kozhu.] – eng. “ Unfortunately , at the present time painting faces is back in fashion, which is also toxic for skin” (Rabotnitsa, 1925, n. 22, p. 22).

The marker “unfornately” expresses negative attitude to cosmetics. In the context of promotion of hygiene in 1920s, this example demonstrates that cosmetics are negatively seen in soviet society, because they don’t provide any health benefits and serve only to change and to beautify the female look.

4. Introductory modal word expressing «the absence of alternative»; introductory words «therefore» used for logical structuring of the text:

russ. [Сhtit’ pam’jat’ materi ne prestupno, konechno , esli mat’ zasluzhila etogo. Kol’tso, ostavsheesja posle mat’eri, nesomnenno , moget byt’ ochen’ cennym dl’ja docheri. No nosit’ ego na ruke – znachit, nosit’ ego ne tol’ko, kak pam’jat’, no i kak ukrashenije. Znachit , tut ne odna tol’ko pamjat’, no est’ i koe-shto vneshne-pokaznoje.] – eng.

It is obviously not criminal to honor the memories of mother if she deserved it. The ring, left behind by mother, clearly can be very valuable for daughter. But wearing the ring on the hand is therefore wearing it not only as a memory, but also as a jewelry. Therefore it is not only a memory, but also something externally ostentatious”. (Rabotnitsa, 1925, n. 5, p. 30-31)

In this example the author responds to the reader of Rabotnitsa magazine. The intention of using introductory modal words “obviously” and “clearly” is to convince that author understands his reader. At the same time author is using introductory word “therefore” twice logically hinting to the main aspect of the ring, that is also a jewelry and externally ostentatious. The introductory word «therefore» helps author to convince the reader of the credibility of his logical deductions.

Fashion discourse of Russian blogs

The result of fashion blogs analysis showed that the key markers of the woman image in modern fashion discourse are English loanwords, which both make a special language from the perspective of its style and bring new social and cultural content.

280 analyzed blog texts include 306 English loanwords with the entries of 4968.

These English loanwords are divided into six groups. Hereinafter all English loanwords examples are drawn in Russian with transliteration.

• Not fashion discourse English loanwords – 110 units, 734 entries: russ. [instagram, blog, internet, internet-magazin, internet-zhurnal, lajfhak, massmarket, masthjev etc.] – eng. ( Instagram, blog, internet, internet-shop, internet-journal, life hack, mass-market, must have etc.).

• Brands derivatives: names of clothes and accessories – 10 units, 86 entries: russ. [kedy, konversy, martensy, n'jubjelansy, timberlendy, fitbit etc.] – eng. ( Keds, Converse, Dr. Martens, New Balance, Timberland, Fitbit etc.).

• Handles and materials names – 13 units, 106 entries: russ. [denim, dzhersi, kapron, plastik, polijester, tvid, hlollofajber etc.] – eng. ( denim, jersey, plastic, polyester, tweed, hollow fiber etc.).

• Cuts and styles names and their derivatives – 33 units, 370 entries: russ. [arthaus, boho, kejp, kjezhual, militari, preppi, stritstajl, hippi etc.] – eng. ( art house, boohoo, cape, casual, military, preppy, street style, hippy etc.).

• Old English loanwords – 69 units, 2119 entries: russ. [bejsbolka, bodi, glamur, dzhemper, dzhinsy, dizajn, imidzh, kovboj (style), legginsy, ljureks, pizhama, pulover, sviter, futbolka, haki, shorty etc.] – eng. ( baseball cap, body, glamour, jumper, jeans, design, image, cowboy (style) , leggings, lurex, pajamas, pullover, sweater, football, khaki, shorts etc.).

• Modern English loanwords – 71 units, 1553 entries; russ. [aviatory (glasses), autfit, blejzer, bojfrendy (type of jeans), brogi, dafflkot, krossbodi, lofery, njud, oversajz, svitshot, flatforma etc.] – eng. ( aviators (glasses), outfit, blazer, boyfriend (type of jeans), brogues, duffle coat, cross-body, loafers, nude, oversize, sweatshirt, flat form etc.].

The percentage rating of the above-enumerated groups is drawn in the diagram below (Figure 01 ).

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As we can see, the majority of Anglicisms are in the category of old loanwords; however, the part of the modern one is big as well and make 31% from the English loanwords tot. In the category of modern loanwords, we included the Anglicisms which entries into the [Russian National Corpus] is zero or nears zero. The high frequency of these words in the fashion blogs demonstrates their active usage in the modern Russian language and their importance in the contemporary fashion discourse construction and, consequently, in the construction of a modern woman image.

English loanwords contribute to make a modern woman image as an independent, active and strong one. This is witnessed with loanwords – names of shoes, clothes and accessories of a woman. By origin, many Anglicisms were used in English as the names of men clothing units. Their appearance in women clothing shows that a women image becomes closer to a man one, as well as feminine social functions. There are 18 lexical units (408 entries) of this type: russ. [aviatory, bitlovka, blejzer, dzhinsy-bojfreny/bojfrendy, bomber, brogi, dafflkot, derbi, lofery, oksfordy, svitshot, slipery, slipony, trench (also trenchkot), hantery, chelsi, chinos] – eng. ( aviators, Beatle coat, blazer, jeans/boyfriend jeans, bomber, brogues, duffle coat, derby, loafers, oxfords, sweatshirt, sleepers, slip-on shoes, trench (also trench coat ) hunters, Chelsea, chinos ); Daily women closing is approaching to the men one because professional duties of a modern woman make her choose comfortable dressing and easy to wear shoes.

Loaning of words marking the units of feminine clothing takes place as well, though their quantity is half less – 9 lexical units (95 entries): russ. [boks (bag), bra, kittenhily (type of heel shoes), krossbodi, ruana, tout (bag), flatforma, choker, shoper] – eng. ( box, bra, kitten heels, cross-body, ruana, tote, flat form, choker, shopper ). Among these examples, there are names of bags [tout, shoper] designed for carrying a lot of stuff, which is not typical for an elegant lady, but typical for a businesswoman. [Kittenhily] is the only name of heel shoes which is used in fashion blogs along with [flatforma, derbi, lofery, oksfordy, slipery, slipony], which is another marker of a modern woman’s need of comfortable shoes to perform her professional and social functions in the modern world.

English loanwords develop the idea of freedom and naturalness in a feminine image drawn in the modern internet fashion discourse. This is confirmed by such Anglicisms as [oversajz, dzhinsy-bojfrendy, krop-top, svitshot, hudi, slipony, slippery, loufery].

[Oversajz] clothes are the clothes of a free cut, the cut bigger than a standard size, which make the clothes look bigger. Oversize clothes are made for a person feel no tightness in movements. [Dzhinsy-bojfrendy] are feminine jeans of a male cut that make them loose for a woman. [Krop-top] is any unit of top clothes halfway cut to show a line of naked skin. [Krop-tops] might be tight and loose, but their main character is their short cut, which make them show a part of naked body and leave less contact of the tissue with the skin.

Such shoes as [slipony, slippery, loufery] by their etymology show a relaxed style. The word [slipony] comes from an English slip-on , which stands for easy to put on shoes, gloves, clothes without laces. Slip-on shoes are convenient daily shoes made of tissue without laces, clips and zippers easy to put on and take off. The word [slippery] comes from English slippers – home shoes – that also marks their easiness in daily wearing regardless of circumstances (park walk, office work, company party, business meeting etc.). [Loufery] is an Anglicism that comes from an English word loafer meaning good-for-nothing. Thus, on the one hand, [loufery] are good for lazy people who do not want to bother oneself, who are not engaged in daily routine. On the other hand, these shoes are a good choice for business people who do not want to feel uncomfortable during every day work and do not want to be tired after another day on the go. For a modern woman, these shoes are necessary to be active; high heels are not the choice in this case and snickers do not fit the business style. That is why [slipony, slippery, loufery] are preferable. They both complement the image of a modern woman as an active and independent one and provide her with comfort and freedom.

The key word of the modern internet fashion discourse is [kjezhual] – eng. casual meaning casual style with 105 entries from 4968 units of total amount of Anglicisms. Besides [kjezhual], there are its derivatives like [kjezhual'nyj] with 65 enteries, [kjezhual'shhik] – 24, [kjezhual'nost'] – 9, [kjezhual'no] – 6. Thus, as a root, [kjezhual] appears in Russian fashion blogs 209 times. The derivative activity of this lexical unit marks the importance of this style for modern fashion and for a modern image of women who prefer free and convenient dressing but not dress-code and corporate style.

Another important character of the modern fashion discourse that goes along with English loanwords is the increase of synonyms and, therefore, increase of a choice for a woman in making her image. For example, the words [brogi, derbi, oksfordy] ( brogues, derby, oxfords ) are names of new types of boots. Originally, they are different in shape, decoration and lacing, and they fit to different dressing. However, in Russian fashion discourse, these differences are not taken into consideration, and the three of them can be used as full synonyms. The word [trench], which is sometimes used as [trenchkot] are full synonyms between each other and to a Russian equivalent [plash]. The Anglicism [blejzer] stands for a Russian word [pidzhak]; the loanword [dafflkot] is known in Russian as [odnobortnoe pal'to]; [bitlovka] stands for [vodolazka] – eng. turtleneck .

An interesting situation is viewed with the names of sport shoes that come from the brands names: [kedy, konversy, n'jubjelansy] – eng. Keds, Converse, New Balance. Both in English as a source language, and in Russian as a recipient language they name one and unique concept – sport shoes or russ. [krossovki]. However, this concept gets different names without new semantics and functions. The idea of naming becomes more important than meanings differentiation.

This lexical pluralization, demonstrated on the examples of shoes and clothes, and typical for the modern fashion discourse, does not find argumentation in the analyzed blogs texts: bloggers do not explain why a woman should put on this and should not put on that. The idea of the fashion blogs can be described in the phrase “chose and put on to be beautiful and feel comfortable”. This confirms our primary hypothesis about less structural organization of modern fashion blogs, and this leads us to the idea of a mosaic woman image formation, when a woman has a wide choice to combine various clothes and shoes and change her image by changing a part or a piece of her dressing.

Fashion discourse of 1920s

In Soviet press of 1920s the introductory modal words, expressing author’s certainty about reported are the most represented. The study of subjective modality allows to see, how the ideologization, typical for soviet discourse, experienced by social spheres of the country, is manifested by the category of subjective modality. The subjective modality represented by introductory words expresses directivity and obligation in an argumentative way, pushing women to establish new fashion and hygiene, according to its new feminine difference from bourgeois period before the Revolution in 1917. In the terms of logic we can speak about the subjective modality of necessity, underlining the author’s subjective certainty about communicated.

Fashion discourse of the beginning of XXI century

By contrast with the fashion discourse of the 1920s Soviet press, the modern internet fashion discourse demonstrates the woman image as a free an independent one: a woman does not have to wear to represent a typical woman of a nation, a woman wear to represent herself. This is testified by the presence of English loanwords and their wide entries in the fashion discourse. However, this independence in the woman image formation goes along with the weakening of its precision: there is no a typical Russian woman, and there is no the woman. There is a woman who can change her identity by changing her dressing, which is lexically very broaden and various.