Beyond a Social Phenomenon: The Ia and the Valorification of a Cultural Identity Pattern [Dincolo de un fenomen social: ia și valorificarea unui tipar identitar]

The paper aims to explain the concept of “identity” by drawing the intricate cultural and political history of an important piece of the Romanian peasant attire. Involved and instrumentalized within various political and cultural identity programs, traditional clothing was exhibited by ethnographers, anthropologists, cultural activists for a long time as an identity landmark meant to display racial differences, national stereotypes, and social hierarchies. The Romanian peasant attire was thus transformed from a community internal practical and symbolical object to an ethnic and then national identity tool. More recently, the national project of inscribing the traditional Romanian female blouse with embroidery on the shoulder on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage is an opportunity for various stakeholders and promoters to reuse and commodify this clothing piece within their own cultural and commercial programs and to redefine and redesign the concept of “heritage community”.