Twenty-first-century symbolism, Verlaine, Baudelaire, Mallarmé

Abstract

rural women, as well as a good introduction to gender as a fruitful approach to Alsatian culture. The author left little out of her analysis, though in the last chapter which discusses living history and the political use of the costume, one could expect a few paragraphs on the more recent use of the dress as a form of political protest during the recent debates about the merger of Alsace into the Grand Est region. The use of the costume as a marketing tool, and notably its hypersexualisation, is another recent evolution of Alsace’s traditional dress that is not part of the author’s study. This book remains essential for readers trying to better understand how traditional dress survived and adapted to modernity, and for those studying the social and political role that traditional local dress can play within a society both on a local, national and international level.