Dress Fashions: Globalization of cultural heritage of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Dress fashions considered as material cultural element as well as tangible heritage of society.Globalization in its literal sense is the process of making, transformation of some things or phenomena into global ones. It can be described as a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together.This process is a combination of economic, technological,socioculturalandpoliticalforces. Furthermore globalization means the increased interconnectedness and under dependence of different societies around the world.Culture is the totality of learned, socially transmitted customs, knowledge, material objects and behavior. It includes the ideas, value, customs and artifacts of a group of people (Schaefer, 2002). It is a pattern of human activities and the symbols that give these activities significance. Culture is the totality of the way of life evolved by a people in their attempts to meet the challenges of living in their environment, which gives order and meaning to their social, political, economic, aesthetic and religious norms and modes of organization thus distinguishing people from their neighbors. In Sri Lanka culture comprises material and none material, institutional, philosophical and creative aspects. However, culture can be transmitted or acquired through information or symbol (dress). Cultural identity is those attributes, behavioral patterns, lifestyles, social structures and norms that distinguish a people from other peoples. These are passed on laterally or inherited from one generation to another (cultural heritage), or horizontally passed on from one society to another through such agent as globalization. In Sri Lanka the sixteenth Century the Kotte era (1411-1597AD) marked the permanent change in Sri Lankan dress fashion. However subsequent to the advent of the Portuguese in Ceylon in 1505 AD, Sri Lankan native’sideology had been changed when Christianity was induced by the native royalty( Perera,1920). The royalty, who were influenced by the Portuguese dress fashion, immediately adapted and adopted the western sartorial trend. They started to cover the upper body with a stitched piece of garment which was called ‘cabaya’(a long coat) (Pieris, 1992). After this, the long –sleeved coat was developed into a type of short jacket with long sleeves known as ‘hettaya’ (jacket).Followed by the Portuguese female, the native royal female of Ceylon also embraced the western dress. They adapted western gown(Silva, 1988). The Kandyan royal female adopted the collared short jacket known as ‘manthe hettaya’(Codrington,1910). Successors of Kotte kings, the Kandyan royalties too followed the same dress styles while adding some modifications into upper-body dress as well as for the lower- bodydress. They patterned the jackets with different types of sleeves, necklines, collars, fastenings and many decorative trimmings such as frills and ornamental cuffs with traditional motifs and designs. The new dress fashion brought interesting dress compositions and elaborated the taste of fashion and perception of beauty of that society. It seems that with the passage of time, the upper-body jacket or the coat was dramatically evolved with new designs in present culture. Because of the globalization and new technology, it has been found that cultural diversity reflects on life style and customs. In the present scenario the jacket or the upper- body cover of the present shows tremendous modifications impactof globalization. The objective of this paper is to discuss in what ways that Sri Lankan dress fashion meet globalization in terms of style variations with consideration of some selected upper- body cover dress (jacket or hettaya).The research reveals that the process of expanding cultural heritage has been under way for many centuries, but technologies have increased the speed and have also broadened the distribution of cultural elements into dress fashions beyond territorial frontiers. The qualitative method was adopted for this research. A sequence of observational studies with temple paintings, wood, and ivory carvings, and sculptures, along with a continuous literature review that used original documented manuscripts, and published records, research and inscriptions were used to gather and sort data. Validation was confirmed by cross- checking with relevant literary sources.