Popular Culture in a Globalised India

As India celebrated the sixtieth anniversary of its independence, much praise was lavished on its emergence as a major player on the global stage. Its economic transformation and geopolitical significance as a nuclear power are matched by its globally resonant cultural resources. This book explores India's rich popular culture. Chapters provide illuminating insights into various aspects of the social, cultural, economic and political realities of contemporary globalised India. Structured thematically and drawing on a broad range of academic disciplines, the book deals with critical issues including:- Film, television and TV soaps- Folk theatre, Mahabharata-Ramayana ,myths, performance, ideology and religious nationalism - Music, dance and fashion - Comics, cartoons, photographs, posters and advertising - Cyberculture and the software industry - Indian feminisms- Sports and tourism - Food cultureOffering comprehensive coverage of the emerging discipline of popular culture in India, this book is essential reading for courses on Indian popular culture and a useful resource for more general courses in the field of cultural studies, media studies, history, literary studies and communication studies.

Autorentext

K. Moti Gokulsing is Senior Visiting Research Fellow at the University of East London. He is the co-founder and co-editor of the journal South Asian Popular Culture (SAPC) published by Routledge. His Illusions of a South Asian Identity was published in the April 2008 issue of SAPC.

Wimal Dissanayake is a Professor in the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaii. He is the founding editor of the East-West Film Journal and the author and editor of a large number of books including Global/Local: Cultural Production and the Transnational Imaginary. He is also a distinguished creative writer who has won Sri Lankan national awards for his poetry and literary writings.

Inhalt

Introduction by K. Moti Gokulsing and Wimal Dissanayake

Part One

• Local Resistance to Global Bangalore-Reading Minority Indian Cinema by M. K. Raghavendra

• Breaking News , Indian style: Politics, Democracy and Indian News Television by Nalin Metha

• Emancipation or anchored individualism? Women and TV soaps in India by ShehinaFazal

• Indian Feminisms: Issues of sexuality and representation by Geetanjali Gangoli

Part Two

• The Tragada Bhavaiya Contribution to the making of Hindu Identity in Saurastra by Jayasinhji Jhala

• The Mahabharata's Imprint on Contemporary Literature and Film by Pamela Lothspeich

• India: Religious Nationalism and changing profile of Popular Culture by Ram Puniyani

Part Three

• Private Music: Individualism, Authenticity, and Genre Boundaries in Bombay Music Industry by Peter Kevetko

• Indian Popular Culture and its 'others': Bollywood dance and anti-nautch in twenty first century global India by Anna Morcom

• From Zenana to Cinema : The impact of Royal Aesthetics on Bollywood Film by Angma D. Jhala

Part Four

• Gods, Kings, and Local Telugu Guys: Competing Visions of the Heroic in Indian Comic Books by Karline McLain

• The Gated Romance of 'India Shining': Visualising Urban Lifestyle in Advertisement of Residential Housing Development by Christiane Brosius

• Advertising in a globalised India by Lynne Ciochetto

Part Five

• India goes to the Blogs: Cyberspace, Identity, Community by Pramod K. Nayar

• The Indian software industry-cultural factors underpinning its evolution by Florian Taeube

Part Six

• Opiate of the Masses or None in a Billion Trying to unravel the Indian Sporting Mystery by Boria Majumdar

• Going Places: Popular Tourism Writing in India by Anna Kurian

Part Seven

• The Discreet Charm of Indian Street-food by Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay

Conclusion