Threads, Beads, and Ribbons: Clothing Trade and its Cultural Consequences in Rural East Central Europe during the Long Nineteenth Century

ongoing

This research explores the dynamic flow of textiles and their cultural impacts in Transylvania from the late 18th century to World War I, challenging the prevailing perception of rural isolation. By examining the consumption and circulation of foreign textiles, the study reveals how these goods facilitated continuous cultural exchanges and influenced local identities in East Central Europe. Utilising digital humanities techniques, the project employs data capture technologies and machine learning frameworks to analyse textile patterns and trade routes. Ethnographic collections from Romanian and international museums provide the primary sources for this investigation. The research underscores the significance of textiles as carriers of cultural and technological information in largely illiterate societies, highlighting their role in the age of nationalism. Through digital mapping and pattern recognition, the study traces the evolution of cultural identity in multicultural spaces, illustrating the rural world's integration into global markets and its interaction with urban areas. By focusing on the socio-economic and cultural consequences of the textile trade, this project offers fresh insights into the dynamics of multiculturalism, nationalism and the shifting cultural identities in East Central Europe, expanding our understanding of the European rural space's role in the broader historical and economic developments during the modern period.