The discursive construction of the contemporary Zeitgeist in fashion journalism: an analysis of the covers of Elle Brasil magazine

Abstract

This main aim of this paper is to analyze the discursive construction of the spirit of the age in the covers of the fashion magazine Elle Brazil. To this end, we will present the Hegelian concept of Zeitgeist, contextualize the spirit of contemporary time, from the postmodern view of Bauman (2006) and Hall (2003), and also the characteristics of magazine journalism and fashion journalism. This work aimed to analyze the discursive construction that expresses, through different verbal and imagistic elements – including clothing –, a series of values ​​embodied in a spirit of the times that the magazine constructs and shares with its public. After articulating the data of the analysis, we can conclude that the magazine Elle Brazil acted as a "voice of resistance" whose speech goes against the tyrannical nature of fashion and against a conservatism that insists on the non-representation of minorities.