While geopolitical region that is “South Asia” has been variously imagined through the ages, its current global purchase as a modern artifact obtains from the high imperial moment of European expansion. Taking as our point of departure the late British colonial imagination, matched as it was by an aggressive Indian nationalist corollary, in this course we will examine constructions of South Asia (its “packaging” as India, the mystic East, the Orient, or the homeland) in a range of short fiction, films, novels, cookbooks, yoga magazines, photographs, comic books, blockbusters, and television shows. In such pursuit, we will interrogate the category of the “popular” in its relation to official, critical, counter-, and dominant culture. Students are expected to come prepared to discuss readings in class; to view three films (Bhowani Junction, 1956; Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, 2001; The Guru, 2002) outside of class time (screenings TBA); and to engage with texts shown in class (such as excerpts from X-files).
Texts:
Ruth Pawar Jhabvala, Heat and Dust (1987)
Gita Mehta, Karma Cola (1972)
Madhur Jaffrey, Quick and Easy Indian Cooking (1996)
Folder of critical essays, fiction, photographs, film reviews
enroll code: 51409 M 4:00-4:50 PM SH 1415
enroll code: 51417 M 5:00-5:50 PM SH 1415
enroll code: 51425 T 8:00-8:50 AM SH 1415
enroll code: 51433 T 9:00-9:50 AM SH 1415
enroll code: 51441 R 4:00-4:50 PM SH 1415
enroll code: 51458 R 5:00-5:50 AM SH 1415
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