Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the intricate relations between bodies, clothes and religious rules in the context of the Roman Catholic Church in Ghana. It analyses how “Catholic fashion” is shaped, challenged and debated in the lives of contemporary Ghanaian Catholics.

Paper long abstract:

The 2018 MET exhibition titled “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” focussed on the intricate relations between bodies, clothes and religious rules in the context of the opulent material history of the Roman Catholic Church. The audience in New York could reflect on these relations while admiring vestments from the Vatican treasuries and contemporary haute couture designs inspired by “Catholic imagination”. The exhibition triggered a public and scholarly discussion about the theological background behind “Catholic fashion”. It also focussed on the bodily rules and customs created and implemented through promoting certain understanding of clothing by Catholicism globally and in various local settings. Discussion included topics like gender roles, patriarchal hierarchy, theological concept of incarnation and its impact on worshippers’ bodies, sexual rules and oppressions.

This paper takes inspiration from the above mentioned debate and develops further questions by relating them to the cultural context of a post-missionary, lived Catholicism in contemporary Ghana. What does “Catholic fashion” mean and what is its role in the lives of Ghanaian Catholics? How, for instance, has the concept of a “proper Christian dress,” which appeared in sub-Saharan Africa together with Christian missionary activities, developed and how does it influence today’s understanding of body and rules regulating sexuality, gender roles and hierarchies? How can dressing reflect the agency of lay men/women when confronted with criticism expressed by the clergy? How do the fashion rules relate to theological conceptualizations of the body and what does breaking and negotiating these rules mean in a religious environment?