Date of Award

4-8-2014

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

School of Communication

First Advisor

Joseph Zompetti

Abstract

This thesis examines how urban street styles are used rhetorically within local boroughs in New York City as a form of resistance to the dominant fashion industry that dictates what is "in fashion" through media. A total of fifteen video blogs developed by The New York Times were analyzed, each containing a representation of one of the five boroughs of New York City: Staten Island, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Queens. The analysis identified themes of a rhetoric of style, consisting of primacy of text, imaginary communities, aesthetic rationales, market contexts, and stylistic homologies. These themes were then analyzed by drawing upon neo-Marxist and semiotic theoretical concepts. Findings from the analysis suggest that individuals engage in street styles as a form of anti-fashion to convey cultural ideologies, which can possibly be used to create societal change.

Comments

Imported from ProQuest Pineda_ilstu_0092N_10212.pdf

DOI

http://doi.org/10.30707/ETD2014.Pineda.A

Page Count

133

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