The secret lives of wool: A Rubbish Theory case study from the Faroe Islands

This chapter explores the relationship between wool, culture and value in the Faroe Islands. It aims to expand our understanding of the role and meaning of wool in practices ordering Faroese culture and identity. It focuses on (sheep) wool as basic material for patterned knitwear associated with changeable local and global cultural tastes and trends. Wool may be a rather fluffy, shapeless and ephemeral thing, but it can, as will be demonstrated on the following pages, say
big and enduring things about the wider ordering system performing Faroese identity. The pattern reprinted in the knitwear also forms part of this chapter’s analytical focus. This is because these designs unveil the cultural meanings of the wool. The pattern in the sweater is, so to speak, an expression of the formula transforming Transient wool into a Durable cultural asset.