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(Dikiş Tarihçesi Kitap) THE SUBVERSIVE STITCH
(Dikiş Tarihçesi Kitap) THE SUBVERSIVE STITCH
R O Z S I K A PA R K E R
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The right of Rozsika Parker to be identified as the author of this work has
been asserted by the author in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patent Act 1988.
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or any
part thereof, may not be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission
of the publisher.
A full CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
A full CIP record is available from the Library of Congress
Contents
Notes 216
Bibliography 233
Glossary 240
Index 242
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The Victoria and Albert Museum have granted permission for the reproduction of the
following images as they originally appeared when The Subversive Stitch was first
published by The Women's Press Ltd, 1984.
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Acknowledgements
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Foreword
‘Has the pen or pencil dipped so deep in the blood of the human
race as the needle?’ asked the writer Olive Schreiner. The answer
is, quite simply, no. The art of embroidery has been the means of
educating women into the feminine ideal, and of proving that they
have attained it, but it has also provided a weapon of resistance
to the constraints of femininity.
In this book I examine the historical processes by which
embroidery became identified with a particular set of
characteristics, and consigned to women’s hands. By mapping the
relationship between the history of embroidery and changing
notions of what constituted feminine behaviour from the Middle
Ages to the twentieth century, we can see how the art became
implicated in the creation of femininity across classes, and that the
development of ideals and feminine behaviour determined the
style and iconography of needlework. To know the history of
embroidery is to know the history of women.
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Introduction
Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
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Introduction
Introduction
Rozsika Parker
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Introduction
Notes
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