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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 2014: "Winds of Change" This subject aims to provide an overview of Indian popular culture over the last decade, 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 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 will include Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Chennai Express, Ek Tha Tiger and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and popular fiction includes works by William Dalrymple, Shobha De and Khushwant Singh. Class taught in English. All texts, all visual materials shown would be subtitled in English.

Topic for Spring 2014: WInds of Change

This subject aims to provide an overview of Indian popular culture over the last decade, 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 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 will include Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, Chennai Express, Ek Tha Tiger and Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and popular fiction includes works by William Dalrymple, Shobha De and Khushwant Singh.
Class taught in English. All texts, all visual materials shown would be subtitled in English.

Units: 3-0-9(U)

HASS-H
CI-H