Western clothing and African identity: changing consumption patterns among the Luo

bibliographic database
Line

Book

Title:	Western clothing and African identity: changing consumption patterns among the Luo
Author:	Hay, Margaret Jean
Year:	1989
Issue:	2
Language:	English
Series:	Discussion papers in the African humanities
City of publisher:	Boston, MA
Publisher:	Boston University, African Studies Center
Geographic terms:	Kenya United Kingdom
Subjects:	Luo colonialism clothing
Abstract:	This paper examines the changes in the styles and production of clothing worn by the Luo people of western Kenya between 1906 and 1936. In the period under review experimentation with forms of clothing and adornment took place, along with the emergence of a new group of artisans, the Indian, and later African tailors. There were also marked changes in agricultural technology, while other aspects of material culture, such as housing, furniture, fishing baskets, and musical instruments tended to remain the same. The author draws her material from archival sources, photographs, travellers' accounts, and some interviews. She discusses Luo society around 1906, traditional forms of clothing, forces for change (hut and poll tax, mission and school, migration), and official and missionary pressures for a new form of African dress.