Communication & Global Shifts| Performing Terror, Mediating Religion: Indian Cinema and the Politics of National Belonging

Authors

  • Sunera Thobani University of British Columbia

Keywords:

Gujarat genocide, Indian cinema, media, religion, and violence

Abstract

In 2002, the Indian state of Gujarat erupted in violence against Muslims that left thousands homeless and hundreds of women raped and assaulted. The relation between nation, religion, and gender has often been violent in the South Asian context, no less so with the emergence of India as a major economic power in the early 21st century. This article examines what the Gujarat genocide reveals about the Indian nation-state and its particular forms of religious and gendered identities. It also examines the symbiotic relation between the nation-state and the Indian film industry, which plays a critical role in mediating forms of national subjectivity and belonging.

Author Biography

Sunera Thobani, University of British Columbia

Associate Professor at the Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice at the University of British Columbia, Canada. Her research focuses on Gender, Race, Globalization, Citizenship, Migration, Muslim women and Media Representations of the War on Terror.

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Published

2014-01-15

Issue

Vol. 8 (2014)

Section

Special Sections

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