Nadia Sarwar (Memorial University of Newfoundland)
Drawing from ethnographic research with Bangladeshi immigrant women living in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada (NL), this paper explores clothing as an important medium of self-expression in the context of migration. Using Pravina Shukla’s theoretical framework of clothing and identity, it analyzes how Bangladeshi immigrant women construct, negotiate, and resist Bangladeshi identity through clothing in a non-representative diasporic centre such as NL: What choices do Bangladeshi immigrant women in NL make for clothing? What are the meanings and symbols attached to the clothes that they wear in daily life and on different occasions? How do they emphasize and/or de-emphasize ethnic identity through clothes-related choices?
Part of V2-05 Belonging, Folklore, and Identity, Wednesday, October 11, 3:30 pm–5:30 pm