Performativity and Fashion Politics in Anne Tyler’s Digging to America and Clock Dance

Introduction: This study explores cultural and gender identity formation in Digging to America and Clock Dance, two novels by American author Anne Tyler. Drawing on Judith Butler’s theory of performativity, Homi Bhabha’s concept of hybridity, and post-colonial fashion theory, the research investigates how identities are socially constructed and influenced by fashion, lifestyle, and neo-colonial contexts. The city of Baltimore, while real, is portrayed in a fictionalized manner where characters appear detached from societal structures. Both novels center on female protagonists navigating patriarchal settings. Methods: A theoretical framework combining Butler’s performativity, Bhabha’s hybridity, and post-colonial fashion was used to analyze the characters’ behaviors, clothing, and cultural expressions. The study employs textual analysis of character representation and fashion as performative acts within the socio-cultural setting of the novels. Findings: The research reveals that the characters’ identities are shaped through the performative enactment of societal gender and cultural norms. Fashion and lifestyle emerge as key tools in expressing and constructing these identities. Furthermore, the analysis shows how hegemonic power creates a dichotomy between self and other, leading to the marginalization of minorities. However, as Butler argues, this performative structure can be challenged and potentially subverted by the very mechanisms that uphold it.