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Syllabus

Overview of Indian popular culture over the last two decades, through a variety of material such as popular fiction, music, television and Bombay cinema. Explores major themes and their representations in relation to current social and political issues, elements of the formulaic masala movie, music and melodrama, ideas of nostalgia and incumbent change in youth culture, and questions of gender and sexuality in popular fiction. Taught in English. Enrollment limited.

Topic for Spring 2010: The Winds of Change

This subject aims to provide an overview of Indian popular culture over the last four decades, through a variety of material such as film, advertising, and pulp fiction. This term we shall focus on the evolution of Hindi cinema from the old formula of melodrama to some of the new experimental paradigms in Bollywood and its influence on other forms of popular culture. We discuss the role of the changing socio-political milieu and changing audience and analyze some of the new genre films and reconstructed "masala" melodramatic films. Films shown include Ghajini, Kameeney and Rock On and popular (and pulp) fiction from across India includes works by Shobha De, Khushwant Singh and Ramanichandran. All in translation and subtitles.

Units: 3-0-9(U)

CI-H