Browsing by Author "Clevenger, Jennifer Lynn"
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- Poetry as a Source of Knowledge on Historic Dress in a Social, Political, and Economic Context: The Scottish Highlanders from 1603 through 1830 as an ExampleClevenger, Jennifer Lynn (Virginia Tech, 2004-09-10)Dress is both an individual and a societal means of communication. Understanding the meaning of dress within a society, culture, and specific time period can aid researchers in understanding the social, political, and economic events and changes that take place in dress. The Scottish Highland dress differed in the 17th and early 18th centuries from that of the Scottish Lowlanders (i.e., people of Scotland below the Highlands) due to differences in culture and geography. Highland dress has been difficult to study because few extant garments exist before the 19th century and most of the records that exist deal with the upper class garments. The purpose of this research was to determine whether or not poetry (i.e., poems, ballads, and songs) could be used as a source of knowledge on historic dress in a social, political, or economic context, using the dress of Scottish Highlanders from 1603 through 1830 as an example, and to triangulate the findings with other sources that portray dress through the written word or visual image. This research cross-referenced the items of dress with social, political, and economic events that occurred in the lives of the Scottish and Highland people. The main source of documentation for this research was 3,501 Scottish poems written between 1603 and 1830 gathered from 18 anthologies and there were 394 poems with male dress references and 245 poems with female dress references, which was 18% of the poems. A large number (N=1531) of individual dress items were referenced within those poems. The poems were triangulated with 34 letters and 332 portraits from the same time period. The study of Highland dress in poetry expanded the knowledge base regarding specific items worn by males and females. The majority of the poems and dress references were found in the 18th century. The plaid and the kilt were the focus of poems related to war. The letters and portraits provided new information on dress, as well as providing support for the information gathered in the poems. Triangulation with the letters and portraits validated poetry as a source of Highland dress between 1603 and 1830.
- Tlingit tunic design: visual definition, meaning, and identityClevenger, Jennifer Lynn (Virginia Tech, 1998-03-30)The Tlinglt people have lived along the southeastern coast of Alaska since 1730. Historically, the highly decorated Tlingit tunics were worn at potlatches, as the first layer of regalia. The tunics were often covered with dance aprons. bibs, and blankets. Potlatches are still held today but with less frequency. Today, Celebration is held every two years, so that the Tlingit may gather to celebrate their heritage through music, dance, and art. The purpose of the research was to define the physical tunic, as well as. to determine meaning associated with the tunics. Models were created to divide the fifty tunics into more manageable sections, which were originally based on DeLong’s (1987) use of Gestalt theory of part-to-whole and whole-to-part viewing. The viewing relationships of interior design lines, silhouette, and surface design readily organized appearance into visual categories. The models were further divided into subsections which displayed information on a particular part of the tunic (for example, side silhouette shapes). Meaning was determined by using form associations. An expressive response scale, which deals specifically with the Tlingit tunics, was adapted from DeLong's (1987) form association scale. The researcher visited six museums along the Inner Passage of Alaska. Twenty-eight relics were viewed at the various museums. Nine old photographs were also viewed at the museums. Celebration "96 In Juneau, as well as a dance event In Haines, were attended and videotaped so that the tunics could be seen in actual use. Thirteen tunics were viewable using the videotape. Definition of the tunics was determined by analyzing the interior design lines, silhouette, and the surface design. The physical tunic had a simple silhouette and interior design lines, while the surface design was found to be much more complex. In other words, the non-complex outline framed a complex surface design. Tunics were placed into four possible categories in the expressive response scale. The tunics distinctly fell into two of the four categories.. Meaning determined that the shape was large with emphasis on the silhouette. Line was discontinuous while the color tended to be bright. The texture was able to fill the surface with coarse areas usually due to beadwork. Group Identity was conveyed through the use of similar silhouettes and interior design lines. Individuality was expressed in the uniqueness of the surface designs - in the type of design, varied location, and use of materials.