The Culture of Woven Fabric According to the Belief of Tai Lue People to the Assimilation for Identity

Abstract

Objectives: This research aims to study the belief in the culture of woven fabric of the Tai Lue Chiang Kam ethnic people which reflects knowledge, ideas, beliefs and social values of different periods.

Methods: Documentary research and fieldwork were carried out along with photographic data and in-depth interviews with the sample group of the Tai Lue woven fabric specialists in Chiang Kam district. The semiotics theory proposed by Roland Barthes and Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of power relations were applied in the research analysis.

Results: Fabrics and patterns according to the beliefs appeared in forms of symbols, thoughts or contexts of the original beliefs reflecting identities through creativity. The community’s history and its abstract thinking system were connected. The ideas were explained through symbolism, rituals and traditions, with a concrete thinking system through the use of fabrics and patterns. These highlighted the subtle implications of adjustment relating to the power relations in which one participated, in order to achieve recognition and acceptance. Written records were not widely favored among the Tai Lue people in Thailand. Therefore, the woven culture is a ‘cultural reproduction’ which can be considered as a record of life. The existence of a society depends on inheritance from one generation to another with the accepted mechanism of cultural reproduction and adaptation to the changing environments and changing social contexts. This is why Tai Lue ethnic group is able to exist and pass on their identity from generation to generation.

Application of this study: The findings from this research can potentially be a guideline for further studies in the woven fabric culture, which is a mechanism that passes the origin of ideas of Tai Leu people through the process of cultural reproduction.