Pseudo-language in the clothing system; Rethinking linguistic mechanisms in the clothing system based on Saussurean structural analysis

Abstract

Clothing is an important topic in social studies, but structural approaches have received little attention due to a lack of frameworks for formulating meanings of clothes. The purpose of this study was to pore over on the linguistic effects of clothes. The main question is, to what extent can the meaning of clothes be explained within the framework of a linguistic system? For this purpose, the structural analysis method of Ferdinand de Saussure was used. Results showed this method can recognize elements and relations of the clothing system but not explain historical trends. The clothing system is governed by the logic of signifier and signified and is an arena of contentious semiotics. Discussing the origins and implications of signs requires case studies of synchrony and diachrony of clothes. Regardless of history, studying clothing is inconclusive; it is both a system and history. Confrontation between dress rules and individual dressing represents social dynamics. Clothing has linguistic logic with codes but no vocabulary or grammar to convey alphabetical messages. The structure of clothing in society has extensive intertextual relations and cannot be considered a true language, only a pseudo-language.

Keywords

• semiology
• clothing language
• ferdinand de saussure
• structural analysis
• pseudo-language