Silk, Velvet and Mother-of-Pearl from Istanbul: Clothing in the Novel and Film Zona Zamfirova

Abstract

Fashion and clothing constitute effective technical instruments for shaping and performing public personas. In Zona Zamfirova, Stevan Sremac exploits this potential to deepen the relationship between literary characters and the cultural milieu of Oriental Niš, a world that irreversibly ceased to exist after 1878. In this author’s literary vision, garments materialize economic privilege, social mobility, attachment to (Ottoman) tradition, national identity, and the acceptance of Western modern values. Nevertheless, deviations from traditional/Ottoman dress codes in the novel remain minimal, thereby underscoring a strong attachment to the local as opposed to the global environment. By contrast, the film narrative and its visual representation are not fully aligned. Costume design embodies identities that diverge significantly from those conveyed in the narrative. In the novel, Zona’s traditional and fixed mode of dress symbolizes a static, patriarchal environment and her unquestioning acceptance of paternal authority. Conversely, Mane’s attire, blending Ottoman sartorial tradition with emerging national elements, emphasizes his liminal position between two identities. The most pronounced internal transformation is experienced by Hadži-Zamfir, whose modernized exterior signals an accommodation of social change without a complete departure from the Oriental cultural framework. This mediated Ottoman modernity—where European cultural influence is filtered, adapted, and localized—remains closer to Hadži-Zamfir as a man of the East, who feels a substantial distance from Western culture. In the film adaptation, however, costume constructs characters differently: Zona, Mane, and Hadži-Zamfir are depicted predominantly in conservative dress, with only occasional modernized elements in public settings. This approach undermines the narrative dynamism by visually fixing them as static figures despite their active roles. Particularly indicative is the portrayal of Hadži-Zamfir, whose costume is reduced to signaling the wealth of the dominant class rather than serving as an active element of characterization. An additional issue arises from the stylistic separation of Zona and Mane from their mothers, aunts (with the exception of Doka), and older female relatives. The generational divide materialized through clothing assumes a paradoxical form: the older generation of women—defenders of the established order—wear modern European attire, while the younger characters, who continually destabilize tradition through their emotions and actions, remain bound to its norms.