Indian Society Through Film
INTL 407/507, 2nd half of Summer Session 2008
T & Th, 4-8:20 p.m., July 22-August 12
Lewis Lounge, 4th Floor, Knight Law School
Course Syllabus
Film has the ability to project powerful images of a society in ways conventional academic medium cannot. This is particularly true in learning about India, which is home to the largest film industries in the world. This course explores images of Indian society that emerge through the medium of film. Our attention will be focused on the ways in which Indian society and history is depicted in film, critical social issues being explored through film; the depicted reality vs. the historical reality; and the powerful role of the Indian film industry in affecting social orientations and values.
Class format:
Professor Weiss will open each class with a short lecture on the issues which are raised in the film to be screened for that day. We will then view the selected film, followed by a short break, and then extensive in-class discussion.
There will be assigned readings for each week which can be found either in the following required texts (available at the UO bookstore) or through hotlinks on this website. Try to complete (or at least skim) all readings before the day in which they will be discussed. Most recommended films are available in local video stores or at Vishnu India Imports (135 E. 29th Ave., Ph: 343-6932). The required books are:
Robert W. Stern Changing India: Bourgeois Revolution on the Subcontinent 2nd edition, Cambridge University Press, 2003
Jyotika Virdi The Cinematic ImagiNation: Indian Popular Films as Social History Rutgers University Press, 2003
Requirements: (Link to grading guidelines) (percentage of final grade)
*class participation 10%
* a typed, 2-3 page double-spaced essay exploring cultural issues presented in any 20%
film viewed. The essay should draw upon readings and class discussion as relevant and is due at
the beginning of the class after the film is screened.
* take-home examination, to be handed out in class on Tuesday August 12th and is 35%
due be submitted to Professor Weiss by 4 p.m. on Fri August 15th (in 307 PLC)
* 6-8 page paper (approx.) due in class on Tuesday August 12th. 35%
The term paper is to explore any social issue which was raised in a segment of this course. You are to look at its social origin, and then focus on the way in which this issue is in flux in India today. You need to confirm the topic of your term paper by the middle of the term (July 31st). There are a number of books recommended throughout the syllabus “for further reading.” These are good places to start researching your paper. (If you would like to customize this requirement further because of your professional needs, I am happy to accommodate such requests. Please come talk with me in person; not just via e-mail.)
Course Outline
July 22-24 Introduction to the Course; Historical Depiction of Indian Society and Rewriting History through Film
Films: Ghare Baire (The Home and the World), directed by Satyajit Ray, 1984
Lagaan (Once Upon a Time in India), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, produced by Aamir Khan Productions, 2001
Recommended films: Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2002
(we may see some clips from this in class, too)
Garam Hava (Hot Winds), directed by M.S. Sathyu, 1973
Readings:
Stern, pp. 1-31, 131-170
Virdi, "Preface," pp. ix-xiv
Milton Singer "Passage to More than India: A Sketch of Changing European and American Images" When a Great Tradition Modernizes: an Anthropological Approach to Indian Civilization Praeger Publishers, 1972, pp. 11-37
July 29-31 History from Within and Views of the 'Other'; Relevance of History Today handout link here
Films: A Passage to India, directed by David Lean, 1984
The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey directed by Ketan Mehta, 2005 (also here)
Mirch Masala (Hot Spices), directed by Ketan Mehta, 1985 Sawnet review
Recommended film: Gandhi, directed by Richard Attenborough, 1982
Readings:
Stern, pp. 33-55, 56-87
Virdi: "Introduction," pp. 1-25, "Nation and its Embodiments," pp. 34-43
Nicholas Dirks “The Home and the World: the Invention of Modernity in Colonial India” in Robert A. Rosenstone (ed.) Revisioning History: Film and the Construction of a New Past Princeton University Press, 1995, pp. 44-63
Arthur Lindley “Raj as Romance/Raj as Parody: Lean’s and Foster’s Passage to India” Literature/Film Quarterly, 20, No. 1, 1992, pp. 61-66
For further reading:
Bhowmik, Someswar Indian Cinema, Colonial Contours Calcutta: Papyrus Press, 1995
Prasad, M. Madhava “The State in/of Cinema” in Partha Chatterjee (ed.) Wages of Freedom: Fifty Years of the Indian Nation-State Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 123-146
Metcalf, Barbara D. and Thomas R. Metcalf A Concise History of India
Cambridge University Press, 2001
Mishra, Vijay Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire Routledge, 2002
Vohra, Ranbir The Making of India: a Historical Survey M.E. Sharpe, 2nd edition, 2001
August 5-7 Bollywood! Changing Gender Roles and Family Norms handout link here
Films: Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (Journey of a Woman; or There Seems to be a Stain on her Shirt), directed by Pradeep Sarkar, 2007
Baghban (The Caretaker), directed by Ravi Chopra, 2003and
Larger than Life: India's Bollywood Film Culture 2005
Recommended films: Amar, Akbar, Anthony, directed by Manmohan Desai,1977
Bunty aur Babli directed by Shaad Ali, 2005
Hum Tum (You and I), directed by Kunal Khohli 2004
Jab We Met (When We Met), directed by Imtiaz Ali (2007)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (Sometimes There's Happiness, Sometimes There's Sadness), directed by Yash Johar, 2001
Lage Raho Munna Bhai, directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 2006
Salaam Namaste, directed by Siddharth Anand, 2005
Readings:
Virdi: "The Idealized Woman," pp. 60-86, "Heroes and Villains," pp. 87-92, "Heroines, Romance and Social History, " pp. 121-144
Pico Iyer "India: Hollywood in the Fifties" Video Night in Kathmandu New York: Vintage Books, 1989, pp. 241-285 (pp. 241-268 pp. 269-285 )
New films being released in 2008
For further reading:
Carr, Marilyn, Martha Chen and Renana Jhabvala (eds.) Speaking Out: Women's Economic Empowerment in South Asia IT Publications, 1996
Derne, Steve Movies, Masculinity, and Modernity: An Ethnography of Men's Filmgoing in India Greenwood Press, 2000
Jeffery, Patricia and Amrita Basu (eds.) Appropriating Gender: Women’s Activism and Politicized Religion in South Asia Routledge, 1998
Mankekar, Purnima Screening Culture, Viewing Politics: an Ethnography of Television, Womanhood, and Nation in Postcolonial India Duke University Press, 1999
Mendelsohn, Oliver and Marika Vicziany The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty, andthe State in Modern India Cambridge University Press, 1998
Tuesday August 12 Religion and Social Change in The Bombay Film Studios handout link here
Films: Om Shanti Om, directed by Farah Khan, 2007
Guru, directed by Mani Ratnam, 2007 (a few clips)
Recommended films: Bombay, directed by Mani Ratnam, 1995
Fanaa, directed by Kunal Kohli, 2006
Salaam Bombay!, directed by Mira Nair, 1988
Veer Zaara, directed by Yash Chopra, Yashraj Studios, 2004
Readings:
Stern, pp. 88-106, 171-215
Virdi, "Conclusion," pp. 205-214
Mira Nair "Hooray for Bollywood" Time Magazine June 26, 2006, pp. 49.
Derné, Steve “The (limited) effect of Cultural Globalization in India: Implications for Culture Theory" Poetics Vol. 33, 2005, pp. 33-47
Ashis Nandy “Introduction: Indian Popular Cinema as a Slum’s Eye View of Politics” in Ashis Nandy (ed.) The Secret Politics of our Desires: Innocence, Culpability and Indian Popular Cinema Zed Books, 1998: 1-17
For further reading:
Website: Planet Bollywood
Ayres, Alyssa and Philip Oldenburg (eds.) India Briefing: Takeoff at Last? M.E. Sharpe, 2005
Basu, Amrita and Atul Kohli (eds.) Community Conflicts and the State in India Oxford University Press, 1998
Butcher, Melissa Transnational Television, Cultural Identity and Change: When STAR came to India Sage Publications, 2003
Cohen, Stephen P. India: Emerging Power Brookings Institution Press, 2001
Dwyer, Rachel and Christopher Pinney (eds.) Pleasure and the Nation: the
History, Politics, and Consumption of Public Culture in India Oxford University Press, 2001
Kumar, Shanti Gandhi meets Primetime: Globalization and Nationalism in
Indian Television University of Illinois Press, 2006