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Selffashioning

Selffashioning refers to the deliberate construction of a personal identity through choices about dress, grooming, speech, behavior, and mediated representations. It treats identity as something actively produced rather than a fixed essence, shaped through interaction with audiences, social norms, and technologies of communication.

The term has roots in literary theory, notably Stephen Greenblatt’s self-fashioning (1980), which analyzes how early

In contemporary usage, selffashioning broadens to everyday life and digital culture. The concept overlaps with and

Practices of selffashioning include wardrobe and grooming choices, speech and affect, online avatars and usernames, autobiographical

Critics note tensions between agency and constraint, the commodification of identity, and the risk of homogenization

See also: self-presentation, performativity, branding, self-portrait.

modern
authors
used
paratexts,
dedicatory
poems,
and
publishing
practices
to
fashion
a
public
persona
and
to
claim
authority
within
the
cultural
field.
In
that
context,
selffashioning
links
textual
production
to
self-presentation
and
claims
to
cultural
authority.
is
informed
by
theories
of
self-presentation
in
sociology,
such
as
Erving
Goffman’s
dramaturgical
framework,
and
by
performativity
theories
in
gender
studies,
notably
Judith
Butler.
It
also
intersects
with
notions
of
self-branding
and
personal
branding
in
media
ecosystems,
where
individuals
curate
profiles,
content,
and
affiliations
to
shape
audience
perceptions.
storytelling,
and
the
selective
disclosure
of
experiences.
The
rise
of
social
media
has
intensified
the
visibility
and
tempo
of
self-fashioning,
increasing
pressure
to
balance
authenticity
with
strategic
presentation,
commercial
considerations,
and
privacy
concerns.
or
performative
excess.
Proponents
emphasize
the
constructive
potential
of
deliberate
self-presentation
for
narrative
coherence,
social
signaling,
and
belonging.