Indian Society through Film
INTL 407/507, Summer 2011 (2 credits)
June 14-17, 1 pm - 5:50 pm.
185 Lillis Hall
Professor Anita Weiss
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 day which can be found either in the following required texts (available at the UO bookstore) or through hot-links from this class website. Please try to complete all readings before the day in which they will be discussed. Most recommended films are available at Vishnu India Imports (135 E. 29th Ave., Ph: 343-6932) or through Netflix. The required books are:
Edward Luce In Spite of the Gods: the Rise of Modern India Anchor Books, 2006
Anil Saari & Partha Cattopadhyaya Hindi Cinema: an Insider's View Oxford University Press, 2009
Requirements: (percentage of final grade)
Grading Guidelines accessible here
*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. (If you write on Friday's film, that is due the following Monday, June 20th.)
* short take-home examination, to be handed out in class on Friday June 17th and is 35%
to be submitted to Professor Weiss by 2 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21 (307 PLC)
* 6 page paper (approx.) due in 175 PLC no later than Friday July 8 th at noon. 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. There are a number of books recommended throughout the syllabus “for further reading.” These are good places to start researching your paper. While you can begin researching and writing the term paper at any time -- and submit it whenever you would like -- the absolute deadline for turning it in is Friday June 8th.
Course Outline
Tuesday June 14th Introduction to the Course and to Indian history and society, and to Indian Cinema (Bollywood)
Historical overview notes here
Film: Jodhaa Akbar, directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, 2008 (213 minutes)
Recommended films: Devdas, directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali, 2002 (also here)
Ghare Baire (The Home and the World), directed by Satyajit Ray, 1984
Mirch Masala (Hot Spices), directed by Ketan Mehta, 1985
Required Readings:
Luce, pp. 1-22, 23-62
Saari & Cattopadhyaya, pp. 3-20, 28-39
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
Wednesday June 15th History from Within and Views of the 'Other': Partition and its Relevance today
Hinduism, caste and hierarchy notes here
Films: Lagaan (Once Upon a Time in India), directed by Ashutosh Gowariker, produced by Aamir Khan Productions, 2001 (also here) (224 minutes)
Larger than Life: India's Bollywood Film Culture 2005 (57 minutes)
Recommended films: Gandhi directed by Richard Attenborough, 1982
Garam Hava (Hot Winds), directed by M.S. Sathyu, 1973
Lage Raho Munna Bhai directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 2006
A Passage to India directed by David Lean, 1984
The Rising: the Ballad of Mangal Pandey directed by Ketan Mehta, 2005
(also here)
Shakespeare Wallah directed by James Ivory (U of O alumni!), 1965
Required Readings:
Luce, pp. 23-62 (finish this, if you didn't finish it yesterday), 63-104
Saari & Cattopadhyaya, pp. 56-64, 122-131, 168-176
For further reading:
Bhowmik, Someswar Indian Cinema, Colonial Contours Calcutta: Papyrus Press, 1995
Dirks, Nicholas “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
Lindley, Arthur “Raj as Romance/Raj as Parody: Lean’s and Foster’s Passage to India” Literature/Film Quarterly, 20, No. 1, 1992, pp. 61-66
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
Thursday June 16th Changing Gender Roles and Family Norms
link to notes on family and gender issues is here
Films: Baghban (The Gardener) directed by Ravi Chopra, 2003 (181 minutes) [we'll need to skip through the music to make it a bit shorter]
Laaga Chunari Mein Daag (Journey of a Woman, or There Seems to be a Stain on her Shirt) directed by Pradeep Sarkar, 2007, 137 minutes
Recommended films: Amar, Akbar, Anthony directed by Manmohan Desai, 1977
Billu Barber directed by Priyadarshan, 2009
Bunty aur Babli directed by Shaad Ali, 2005
Henna directed by Randhir Kapoor, 1991
Hum Tum (You and I), directed by Kunal Khohli 200
Jab We Met (When We Met), directed by Imtiaz Ali (2007)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (Sometimes There's Happiness, Sometimes Sadness) directed by Yash Johar, 2001
Om Shanti Om directed by Farah Khan, 2007
Salaam Namaste directed by Siddharth Anand, 2005
Thoda Pyaar Thoda Magic directed by Kunal Kohli, 2008
Required Readings:
Luce, pp. 105-142, 180-217, 295-327
Saari & Cattopadhyaya, pp. 65-71, 78-84, 154-161
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
Rao, Maithili “To Be a Woman” in Aruna Vasudev (ed.) Frames of Mind: Reflections on Indian Cinema UBSPD, 1995, pp. 241-256
Friday June 17th Social Pressure and the New Fear of Terrorism
Link to demographic info Chronology of terrorist attacks in India, 2005-10
Films: A Wednesday directed by Neeraj Pandey, 2008 (104 minutes)
Three Idiots directed by Rajkumar Hirani, 2009 (170 minutes)
Recommended films: Bombay directed by Mani Ratnam, 1995
Fanaa directed by Kunal Kohli, 2006
Guru directed by Mani Ratnam, 2007 (a few clips)
My Name is Khan directed by Karan Johar, 2010
Salaam Bombay! directed by Mira Nair, 1988
Veer Zaara directed by Yash Chopra, Yashraj Studios, 2004
Required Readings:
Luce, pp. 143-179, 218-256, 328-354
Saari & Cattopadhyaya, pp. 103-122, 219-222
"Building the City: India's Urban Future"
List of the world's largest cities (#3 and #5 are in India, as are #s 33, 34, 44, and 45)
For further reading:
Ayres, Alyssa and Philip Oldenburg (eds.) India Briefing: Takeoff at Last? M.E. Sharpe, 2005
Cohen, Stephen P. India: Emerging Power Brookings Institution Press, 2001
Kumar, Shanti Gandhi meets Primetime: Globalization and Nationalism in Indian Television
University of Illinois Press, 2006
Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre (HDC) Human Development in South Asia 2008:Technology and Human Development in South Asia Oxford UP, 2009
Malik, Yogendra K., et. al. Government & Politics in South Asia Perseus, 2008
Mendelsohn, Oliver and Marika Vicziany The Untouchables: Subordination, Poverty, and the State in Modern India Cambridge University Press, 1998
Narayan, Deepa and Elena Glinskaya (eds.) Ending Poverty in South Asia: Ideas that Work
World Bank Publications, 2006
Rothermund, Dietmar India: The Rise of an Asian Giant Yale University Press, 2009