Manifestations of Adornment and Att ire in Al-Muwashsha by Al-Washsha’ Abu al-Tayyib Muhammad ibn Ishaq al-Washsha’ (d. 325 AH / 937 AD) – A Cultural Reading

Abstract

Objectives: This research aims to provide a cultural reading of adornment and attire in Al-Washsha’s Al-Muwashsha (d. 325 AH), moving beyond           stereotypical reception and rhetorical interpretation to uncover the paradigms of identity and class distinction.                                                                                

Methodology: The study adopts a cultural approach based on deconstructing behavioral and aesthetic signs. It employs Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of "symbolic capital" and Michel Foucault’s "biopower and discursive formation" as procedural frameworks to deconstruct the discourse and elicit what is left unsaid.                                                                                                                     

Results: The research concludes that adornment and attire constitute an active "discursive system" through which the Abbasid elite exercised social control and class distinction.                                                                                             

Conclusions: The research proves that these manifestations served as a tool for cultural hegemony, through which social taste and behavior were reproduced. Furthermore, these manifestations transcended their utilitarian function to express social identity.