'Fashion Models As Cultural Intermediaries: the Mobilisation of Affect'
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‘Fashion Models as Cultural Intermediaries: The Mobilisation of Affect’ Author: Patrick P. Lonergan Submitted for the Award: Doctor of Philosophy Institution: The University of Limerick Supervisory Team: Dr. Maurice Patterson/ Dr. Maria Lichrou Submitted to the University of Limerick, 16th February, 2015. For Mam and Dad… i Abstract Author: Patrick P. Lonergan Title: ‘Fashion Models as Cultural Intermediaries: The Mobilisation of Affect’ This research thesis consists of a theoretical and empirical exploration of cultural mediation. It articulates current conceptualisations while also questioning the mystified nature with which cultural in termediaries are d ealt in C onsumer Culture T heory (CCT). A dopting a non - representational ap proach, t his r esearch au gments cu rrent r epresentational d escriptions b y analysing w hat c ultural in termediaries o f h igh f ashion do when t hey frame aes thetic consumption experiences as legitimate and desirable. Despite their significant influence on c onsumption, current theorisations in CCT have been limited to describing cultural intermediaries as ‘sorcerers’, who possess a magical capacity to bewitch consumers and leave them spellbound. A non-representational mode of theorising does not explicitly focus on t he meaning embodied b y these agents, but rather deconstructs this ‘magical’ veil by following the embodied processes that mobilise affect. I conceptualise affect as a trigger for bodies’ imaginative consumption and a core influence on bodies’ inevitable interpretation of meaning. It is an ineffable, embodied and contagious life energy t hat i nvokes a c hange t o bodi es’ di spositions a nd pe rceptions o f r eality. In a l ate capitalist, affective economy, value derives from cultural intermediaries’ expert capacity to frame the consumption experience for bodies in relation by forging an emotional tie. This thesis adopts narrative inquiry and personal introspection to trace intermediaries’ embodied processes that mobilise affect and to contextualise the impact felt upon being affected. I conclude that cultural intermediaries mobilise affect by acting as conduits for the flow of contagious energies that pervade the atmosphere. In doing so, they evoke an affecting presence that w orks w ith ima gining te chnologies to imp act b odies in r elation th rough th e e ffortless modulation of affective flow. The result o f such enchants bodies’ and frames the aesthetic consumption experience as one that has become elevated to an authentic, transcendent reality. ii Acknowledgements Sincere thanks to my supervisors, Maurice and Maria for your wisdom and dedication. The passion you hold for what you do is nothing short of inspiring. To my colleagues in the Kemmy Business School and beyond, in particular those in our PhD cluster, thank you so much for your support, insight and friendship during the last four years. As head of department, Lisa, thanks so much to you and your colleagues in Kemmy Business School for providing teaching hours, funding, invaluable experiences and all-round support whenever it was needed. My dearest friends, for hanging around. And most of all, my parents, for everything. iii Table of Contents Dedication………………………………………………………………………………….. i Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………. ii Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………….. iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………. iv Figures and Tables…………………………………………………………………………vii Preface……………………………………………………………………………………..viii 1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….. 1 1.1 Research Aims and Questions………………………………………………… 1 1.2 High Fashion as a Context……………………………………………………... 5 1.3 High Fashion in CCT……………………………………………………………7 1.3.1 Consumer Identity Projects…………………………………………7 1.3.2 Socio-historic Patterning of Consumption………………………….8 1.3.3 Marketplace Cultures………………………………………………..10 1.3.4 Marketplace Ideologies…………………………………………….. 11 1.4 Conclusion and Thesis Outline…………………………………………………13 2 Cultural Mediation in the Late Capitalist Era………………………………………. 18 2.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….... 18 2.2 A Late Capitalist Era of Consumption………………………………………... 19 2.3 An Economy of Affect…………………………………………………………21 2.4 Merchants of Mystique…………………………………………………………22 2.4.1 The Personification of a Dream………………………………………26 2.4.2 The Model Life……………………………………………………….29 2.5 A Framework for Cultural Mediation……………………………………..........32 2.5.1 Framing……………………………………………………………….32 2.5.1.1 Entrepreneurial Labour……………………………………..33 2.5.1.2 Immaterial Labour………………………………………….34 2.5.1.3 Emotional Labour………………………………………......35 2.5.1.4 Affective Labour……………………………………………35 iv 2.5.1.5 Aesthetic Labour………………………………………....... 36 2.5.2 Expertise…………………………………………………………...... 37 2.5.2.1 Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice…………………………...... 37 2.5.2.2 Merleau-Ponty’s Corporeal Schema………………………. 42 2.5.3 Impact……………………………………………………………...... 43 2.6 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...... 45 3 Methodology………………………………………………………………………….......47 3.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..47 3.2 My Interpretive Stance………………………………………………………… 48 3.2.1 Ontological Issues……………………………………………………. 49 3.2.2 Axiological Issues……………………………………………………. 50 3.2.3 Epistemological Issues……………………………………………….. 51 3.3 Embracing the Narrative Turn…………………………………………………. 52 3.4 Key Features of Narratives…………………………………………………….. 53 3.5 Implementing a Narrative Approach……………………………………………56 3.6 Narrative Analysis: A Holistic/Categorical-Content Perspective…………........61 3.7 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………....66 3.8 Participant Profiles and Pen Portraits………………………………………….. 67 4 Narratives of Consecration…………………………………………………………….. 75 4.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………..75 4.2 ‘Something Few Understand and Even Fewer Still Can Do’………………….. 76 4.3 ‘A Vulgar, Crass Cesspool of Tasteless Fodder’……………………………… 82 4.4 ‘We won the Genetic Lottery’…………………………………………………. 88 4.5 ‘The Mundane is Fashion’s Cancer’…………………………………………… 93 4.6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………….. … 99 5 Narratives of Deification…………………………………………………………….…100 5.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………100 5.2 ‘I Just Broke Down in Tears’…………………………………………………..101 5.3 ‘You Can’t Make Yourself Fall in Love’……………………………………...107 5.4 ‘Jolted Awake From the Nicest Dream’……………………………………….113 5.5 ‘A Fashion Show in Hell…How Perfect’…………………………………….. 119 v 5.6 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………. 125 6 Discussion……………………………………………………………………………… 127 6.1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….. 127 6.2 How Do Cultural Intermediaries Mobilise Affect?...........................................129 6.2.1 How Does Cultural Intermediaries’ Mobilisation of Affect Frame the Consumption Experience?......................................130 6.2.2 How Do Cultural Intermediaries Develop the Expertise For the Mobilisation of Affect?.......................................................... 133 6.2.3 Can We Identify the Impact Made by Cultural Intermediaries’ Mobilisation of Affect?......................................................................136 6.3 The Model Life………………………………………………………….......... 138 6.3.1 A Domain of Sacred Consumption………………………………… 139 6.3.2 Kratophany…………………………………………………………. 142 6.3.3 Ecstasy and Flow…………………………………………………… 142 6.3.4 Hierophany………………………………………………………..... 143 6.3.5 Communitas………………………………………………………… 143 6.3.6 Commitment………………………………………………………... 144 6.3.7 Sacrifice…………………………………………………………….. 144 6.3.8 Objectification……………………………………………………… 145 6.3.9 Ritual……………………………………………………………….. 145 6.3.10 Myth and Mystery………………………………………………....146 6.3.11 Contamination…………………………………………………….. 146 6.3.12 Quintessence…………………………………………………….... 146 6.4 A Non-Representational Approach to Cultural Mediation……………………147 6.5 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………..154 7 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………........... 156 7.1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………... 156 7.2 A Brief Summary…………………………………………………………….. 157 7.2.1 Preface……………………………………………………………... 157 7.2.2 Chapter One………………………………………………………… 157 7.2.3 Chapter Two …………………………...…………….…………….. 158 7.2.4 Chapter Three………………………………………………………..159 vi 7.2.5 Chapter Four……………..…………………………………………. 160 7.2.6 Chapter Five…………....……………………………………...……. 161 7.3 Incremental Theory Development……………………………………............ 162 7.3.1 Introduction………………………………………………………… 162 7.3.2 Main Contribution………………………………………………….. 164 7.3.3 Second Contribution……………………………………………….. 167 7.3.4 Potential Contribution……………………………………………... 168 7.4 Future Research………………………………………………………………. 169 7.4.1 Non-Representational Approaches…………………………………. 169 7.4.2 Consumers, Producers and Brands…………………………………. 171 7.4.3 Cultural Intermediaries………………………………………………172 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………173 Appendix A……………………………………………………………………..... 204 Appendix B……………………………………………………………………..... 204 Appendix C……………………………………………………………………..... 205 Appendix D………………………………………………………………………. 205 Figures and Tables Figure 3-1: Gergen & Gergen’s (1988) ‘The Key Features of Narratives’ table………….55 Figure 3-2: Lieblich’s et al. (1998) model for the classification and organisation of types of narrative analysis…………………………………………………62 Figure 3-3: Models’ Participants Profiles…………………………………………………67 Figure 3-4: Bookers’ Participant Profiles…………………………………………………71 Figure 3-5: Designers’ Participant Profiles………………………………………………..72 Figure 3-6: Stylists’ Participant Profiles…………………………………………………..73 Figure 3-7: Photographers’ Participant Profiles…………………………………………..74 vii Paris‘02 I recall the stories recounted by my father, when I was a child, of his experience of living in Paris in the late