Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia
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Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia How do videos, movies and documentaries dedicated to indigenous communities transform the media landscape of South Asia? Based on extensive original research, this book examines how in South Asia popular music videos, activist political clips, movies and documentaries about, by and for indigenous communities take on radically new signifi cances. Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia shows how in the portrayal of indigenous groups by both ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’ imaginations of indigeneity and nation become increasingly interlinked. Indigenous groups, typically marginal to the nation, are at the same time part of mainstream polities and cultures. Drawing on perspectives from media studies and visual anthropology, this book compares and contrasts the situation in South Asia with indigeneity globally. Markus Schleiter is Lecturer in the Institute of Ethnology at Münster University, Germany. Erik de Maaker is Assistant Professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology at Leiden University, The Netherlands. Media, Culture and Social Change in Asia Series Editor: Stephanie Hemelryk Donald Editorial Board: Gregory N. Evon, University of New South Wales Devleena Ghosh, University of Technology, Sydney Peter Horsfi eld, RMIT University, Melbourne Chris Hudson, RMIT University, Melbourne Michael Keane, Curtin University Tania Lewis, RMIT University, Melbourne Vera Mackie, University of Wollongong Kama Maclean, University of New South Wales Laikwan Pang, Chinese University of Hong Kong Gary Rawnsley, Aberystwyth University Ming-yeh Rawnsley, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Jo Tacchi, Lancaster University Adrian Vickers, University of Sydney Jing Wang, MIT Ying Zhu, City University of New York The aim of this series is to publish original, high-quality work by both new and established scholars in the West and the East, on all aspects of media, culture and social change in Asia. Digital China’s Informal Circuits Platforms, Labour and Governance Elaine Jing Zhao The Early Transnational Chinese Film Industry, 1897–1937 Yongchun Fu Urban Culture in Pre-war Japan Adam Thorin Croft Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia Edited by Markus Schleiter and Erik de Maaker Love Stories in China The Politics of Intimacy in the Twenty-First Century Edited by Wanning Sun and Ling Yang For a full list of available titles please visit: www.routledge.com/Media-Culture- and-Social-Change-in-Asia-Series/book-series/SE0797 Media, Indigeneity and Nation in South Asia Edited by Markus Schleiter and Erik de Maaker First published 2020 by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN and by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 selection and editorial matter, Markus Schleiter and Erik de Maaker; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Markus Schleiter and Erik de Maaker to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. With the exception of Chapter 1, no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Chapter 1 of this book is available for free in PDF format as Open Access from the individual product page at www.routledge.com. It has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives 4.0 license. Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe. British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this book has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-35467-8 (hbk) ISBN: 978-0-429-42464-9 (ebk) Typeset in Times New Roman by Apex CoVantage, LLC Contents List of fi gures viii Notes on contributors x Acknowledgements xv 1 Introduction: screening indigeneity and nation 1 ERIK DE MAAKER AND MARKUS SCHLEITER PART I Vernacular popular culture: movies and music videos 27 2 Himachali indigeneity: Gaddi music VCDs and expressions of belonging 29 ANJA WAGNER 3 ‘Manbhum’ videos and their many contours: contexts, contents, and the comic mode as a subversive form 46 MADHUJA MUKHERJEE 4 Films, fl irts, and no dances: a village video night and the circulation of popular Santali VCDs among Birhor people in India 66 MARKUS SCHLEITER 5 The diffused substance of Bhojpuri indigeneity 90 AKSHAYA KUMAR vi Contents PART II Politicising indigeneity: video clips and movies 105 6 Primitive accumulation and “primitive” subjects in postcolonial India: tracing the myriad real and virtual lives of mediatised indigeneity activism 107 UDAY CHANDRA 7 Giving voice? Experiences of collaboration on indigenous video-making projects 122 RADHIKA BORDE 8 From clanships to cyber communities: India’s Northeast in the digital age 132 DAISY HASAN 9 Projecting and rejecting indigeneity: ‘From Bangladesh with Love’ 150 CARMEN BRANDT PART III Documenting and fi ctionalising indigeneity 171 10 Made in India: ethnographic fi lms beyond visual anthropology 173 GIULIA BATTAGLIA 11 Critiquing stereotypes? Documentary as dialogue with the Garo 196 ERIK DE MAAKER 12 YouTube and the rising trend of indigenous folk dance: the case of the sakela dance of the Rai in Nepal and their diaspora 213 MARION WETTSTEIN 13 Identity, indigeneity, and cultural props: portraying the Tai-Ahoms in two Assamese fi lms based on the legend of Joymati 229 ARZUMAN ARA Contents vii 14 Polyandry, sexuality and the (mis)representation of indigenous women on Indian screens. The fi lm Sonam: The Fortunate One 246 MARA MATTA 15 Afterword: meditations on media in digital times 266 ROBIN JEFFREY Index 274 Figures 1.1 Munna Bhai, Santali music video and fi lm producer at Sur Sangeet Films, in his VCD shop 2 1.2 On stage at the regional fi lm festival Jharkhand Cine Award, organised by the All India Santali Film Association (AISFA), in Jamshedpur in May 2013 11 2.1 VCDs produced in Kangra District, Himachal Pradesh, featuring images of Gaddi people on the cover 30 3.1 Le samla sadher tomato : Taste, Taboo and Tomato 56 3.2 ‘Huchke niye puchke dili re’ : Between folk humour and grotesque realism 59 4.1 Birhor tola (subvillage) of Durdura, Mayurbhanj, Odisha in 2007 67 4.2 Video night at a family’s courtyard in a tola with predominantly Santal residents, near to the Birhor tola , Durdura, 2007 68 4.3 Chandra Tudu during the interview conducted in 2011 69 4.4 VCD cover of Santali fi lm Chorok Chikan (2005) 74 4.5 VCD cover of Santali fi lm Achchha Thik Geya (2008) 75 4.6 Birhor and Santal people dancing together at a village dance in Durdura, 2007 77 8.1 An image of Nido Taniam that was used to mobilise a call for justice 142 8.2 A still from the Shillong Chamber Choir’s ‘Just One’ Music Video 145 9.1 Carmen Brandt and Shibly Sadik 152 9.2 Joy and Lisa in Cox’s Bazar 154 9.3 Lisa on Bengali New Year’s Day dressed in a traditional sari 156 10.1 2008 Delhi International Ethnographic Film Festival (DIEFF) banner 174 10.2 Audience listening to the seminar ‘Practicing the Craft, Crafting the Practice’ hosted by Delhi University during the 2008 DIEFF – among the audience, Saba Dewan and David MacDougall 174 10.3 Invited participants at the seminar ‘Practicing the Craft, Crafting the Practice’ hosted by Delhi University during Figures ix the 2008 DIEFF. Speakers include (left to right) Sanjay Kak, Rahul Roy, Judith MacDougall, Nandini Bedi and Reena Mohan. 175 10.4 Cover of the book: A Portrayal of People: Essays on Visual Anthropology in India (Singh and DasGupta 1987) 183 10.5 Cover of the book: Visual Anthropology and India: Proceeding of a Seminar (Singh 1992) 184 10.6 Cover of the book: Visual Anthropology in India and Its Development (Sahay 1993) 185 13.1 Xorai in Agarwala’s Joymoti used for offering to gods 231 13.2 Xorai in Borah’s Joymati used for offering paan-tamul 232 13.3 Jaapis as background decoration in Agarwala’s Joymoti 233 13.4 Jaapis as headwear in Borah’s Joymati 233 13.5 Dragons as background decoration in Borah’s Joymati 234 13.6 Gamosa offered before the priests in Borah’s Joymati 235 13.7 Clothing worn by members of the Tai-Ahom community during a cultural event in Sonari, Chraideo, Upper Assam 235 13.8 Clothing worn by members of the Tai-Ahom community at a religious event in Patsako, upper Assam region 236 13.9 Video still from a video posted on YouTube showing a Tai-Ahom demonstration to demand ST status; demonstrators wear traditional clothing as a marker of identity 236 13.10 Costumes in Borah’s Joymati 237 Notes on contributors Arzuman Ara , The English and Foreign Languages University, Shillong Campus Arzuman Ara teaches English at the English and Foreign Languages University, Shillong campus, Northeast India. She has been associated with studies in the fi elds of literary studies, language pedagogy, mass communication and journalism, gender studies and humanities. She has been a visiting fellow at Oakton Community Col- lege, Illinois, USA, and at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, India. She received the Barkataki Journalism Award in 2004 in Assam, India. She has pub- lished both in India and abroad and has also translated poetry volumes. Her aca- demic interest lies in critical theory and cultural studies and she is a committed feminist.