FASHION INTERPRETATION IN A CONTEXT OF THE DISCURSIVE PRACTICES

Abstract

The word "discourse" became to be particularly topical not only in the problems of semiology, linguistics but also philosophy, culturology, art, advertisement, communication and fashion. Fashion, as a cultural and a social phenomenon gets own discursive practices that appear as a form of original thesaurus. In the research the "fashion" definition is used in a relation to domination, creation, distribution of certain norms, rules, behavior on the cut of one's jib, clothing, mode of dressing, shoes, accessories etc.

Researches of an interdisciplinary connections and a fashion phenomenon are traced in the modern works of U. Lehenkyi, M. Kovrizhenko, L. Dihnich, G. Lola, O. Shandrenko and others. In these works fashion discourse is always culturally open, unaccomplished and exists as a symptom of the eternal formation, permanent incompleteness of possession in a mode, an image, an ideal and a norm. However, the discursive practices and mechanisms are not distinguished in fashion. The task of this article is to identify the special vision of fashion in culture as an unity of the discursive practices.

Statement of the main material research. In French semiology, in the works of M. Foucault, F. de Saussure, the individual (active maker, figure, that changes the culture) is primary considered as a subject of discourse, and discourses are understood as suggestive, emotionally intensive, energetic, socially determined the acts of speech. Speech, unlike language, connected with articulation and communication. F. de Saussure inculcates understanding of sign that exists as unity of signifier and signified, where the main unit is speech, and language uses as mechanism of stowage and forming of speech and senses. The scientist specifies on the feature of report of speech, determination of subjectify of sign, as a unity of signified (concept in sign) and signifier (sensuous). М. Foucault, talk about the loss of denotation (signified), or loss of reference (connection between signifier and signified) [14]. In fact, reference to denotation becomes unnecessary already and the constitutive systems only are begun to exist, or that Jean Baudrillard defined as a simulacrum, and cultural processes are determined by a scientist as a total simulation [4].

The works, in that rise the problems of discourse and discursive mechanisms in the cultural practices are concentrated on the exposure of verbal discourse of fashion. In the "The Fashion System" Roland Barthes determines the vestimentary code of clothing on the example of fashionable photo, by analyzing fashion-magazines, he determines three signs of fashionable discourse: subjective – denotative; depictive, visual – symbolically-vivid; verbal – that has its own speech.

Using principles of Barthes, researcher F. Kosizka [6], examines advertisement cataloging discourse of fashion, as a polyphony of discourses on the example of catalogues of fashionable clothing. D. Bashkatova determines the features of functioning of Russian discourse of fashion, that has semantic codes that correlates with religious, soldiery, musical, medical and other discourses [3]. In G. Lola work "Discourse of fashion", discourse of fashion is determined as a socially-committed conversation about a fashion, as the social rationed dictatorship, that depends on a speaker, journalist, art critic, economist, historian, that determines the manner of thoughts, values and acts [9, 84]. О. Shandrenko [15] determines the temporal acts of 20th century fashion, that take place in the context of virtual reality, as discursive practices in that the creative component occupied a proper place ( lat. creatio – creation), as a transition from nonexistence to existence.

Visual practice is a main mechanism that provides the fashion existence. The visualization appears as an image, as a presence of the world of fashion without that fashion cannot take place. Realization of fashion exists due to the dominant of visually-figural row, in other words, identification of images and meanings in the fashion discourse that are mostly iconic, not verbal.

Manifistation of discursive practices in a fashion is possible through the act of articulation. For example, we analyse work of the Italian designer Gianni Versace (1946-1997), that popularized and entered in fashion the constructions with vertical deep cuts on the dresses. It took place as a cardinal gesture, the will of the masculine expression in a suit's formation. Just like this a man’s eye "cuts" a dress to see the hidden woman body. There is realization of desire without its realization. Discourse as articulation of desire takes place as a total identity of masculine desire and that, what couturier have made.

Masculinity civilization of 20th of century looking for own image, and trousers, dressed by a woman-jockey perceived as a mask of masculinity civilization, that presents certain discourse-game, that deceived, but essentially it is demonstration of masculine deep corporal code on the woman's body. Discursive mechanisms in a fashion touch not only physical descriptions of the fashion objects, but also help to understand essence. For example, the little black dress of Coco Chanel (1926) generates character that sends to deep intuitions, to the catholic faith, to the monkhood. Puritan ethos, that surrounded Chanel in her childhood, showed up in fashion in sacral and religious character. An act, discursive mechanism, took place, where there is no game, substitution, mask, but there is sacralization of profanes, that takes place as virtual (in a sense – supervalued, possible), gestural projection in reality of fashion, as an image. Discursive practices of fashion are the reflection of intension (as conscious or subconscious intention), intuition of culture, day, time. Fashion discourse happens as unverbal practice of articulation of supersenses, superfeelings, superunity of man and man, man and universe, man and nature, man and animal.

The system of discursive mechanisms, in particular, becomes the most general facilities of information reflection in a fashion. Discursive practices understand as a communicative broadcasting on ontological, coexisting level, as a certain act. Polyphony vision of category discourse sends to further research, fashion as language articulation in a stylish display, when every designer works in a context of graphic, plastic, architectonic and defined fashion practices.