DSU

"Dress for Success: Symbolic Interactionism in the Janet Evanovich Novels"

Abstract

 According to symbolic interactionist theory, anxious and insecure consumers tend to buy highly visible products that are consistent with the social image they want to project or the occupational role they need to master. In this paper, symbolic interactionist theory is used to examine the consumption behavior of a female protagonist in the midst of a life-stage transition from lingerie buyer to bounty hunter.

Symbolic interactionist theory suggests that products have symbolic meanings and product ownership serves as a form of symbolic communication between consumers and observers. According to the theory, consumers use products to ease their transition into new social and/or occupational roles. This is particularly true when a product (or a group of products) brings to mind a stereotypical image of the frequent user. Janet Evanovich’s One for the Money, Two for the Dough crime series presents an opportunity to apply symbolic interactionism to consumption behavior in a fictional setting. Evanovich’s protagonist, Stephanie Plum, uses symbolic products to ease her transition from lingerie buyer to bounty hunter and to gain power and authority in her new career. Symbolic interactionist theory allows us to examine Evanovich’s portrayal of a female bounty hunter and the trappings of that career in a modern setting, relative to the more traditional portrayals of that occupation. In addition, the theory also provides an explanation for changes in the character and in her consumption behavior as she gains the requisite job skills and matures within the series.

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