Indo-Italian Screens and the Aesthetic of Emotions
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INDO-ITALIAN SCREENS AND THE AESTHETIC OF EMOTIONS THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES, UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER AS PART OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY JAN 2011 MONIA ACCIARI SCHOOL OF ARTS, HISTORIES AND CULTURES DEPARTMENT OF DRAMA ABSTRACT This thesis aims to shed light on the cultural and aesthetic implications of the relationship between Italy and India on and off the screens of Italy, following the expansion of Bollywood in Europe during the 90s. Bollywood‟s propagation abroad affected the identity of the South Asian diaspora, urban spaces and aesthetics which generated what Le Guellec – describing the arrival of Indians and Bollywood cinema to Paris – named as Bollywood/India mania. The study began with the exploration of the historical meaning of the term aesthetic in order to offer a contextualization on the sense of the aesthetic as a philosophy of art; furthermore, it established a background for further theoretical debate on South Asian diasporic identity formations within the entertainment industry of Italy. The research methods that predominated throughout this work were those of textual argumentation, aesthetic analysis, quantitative and qualitative questionnaires and interview data. The reasons for using different and interdisciplinary methods and approaches to offer an account on diasporic cultures, resided in the attempt to reveal the multiplicities of the „cultural and social‟ visible. The theoretical frame that this research intends to follow is through two quite distinct disciplines: aesthetic and cultural studies. The aim is to capitalise on the productive intersection of these two disciplines to analyse parts of the South Asian cultural text on the screen and beyond it as producers of transnational images imbued with melancholic memories and melancholically conceived spaces. This work will attempt to individuate the existence of representational patterns based on the aesthetic of melancholy with its nuances and metamorphoses, which represents, narrates and constructs South Asian and/or fused identities socially and culturally on the screens of Italy. The notion of semiosphere as elaborated by Jury Lotman, was utilised to define the cultural and dialogic dynamics of mainstream products that move constantly closer to each other generating original „formats‟ characterised by novel transnational and multiple identities. Throughout this thesis, the emphasis was placed on the „encounters‟, the „journeys‟ and the „sharing‟ of cultures, hence highlighting the possible conditions of belonging contemporaneously through multiple modalities: mentally, psychologically and experientially to multiplicities of cultures. In addition, the notion of „world culture‟ was contemplated in an attempt to practically support what Gilroy, in Black Atlantic, shaped as „inter-cultural‟ and translational formations. DECLARATION and COPYRIGHT STATEMENT Declaration I declare that no portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning; Copyright Statement i. The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns any copyright in it (the "Copyright") and s/he has given The University of Manchester the right to use such Copyright for any administrative, promotional, educational and/or teaching purposes. ii. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts, may be made only in accordance with the regulations of the John Rylands University Library of Manchester. Details of these regulations may be obtained from the Librarian. This page must form part of any such copies made. iii. The ownership of any patents, designs, trademarks and any and all other intellectual property rights except for the Copyright (the "Intellectual Property Rights") and any reproductions of copyright works, for example graphs and tables ("Reproductions"), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property Rights and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions. iv. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and exploitation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property Rights and/or Reproductions described in it may take place is available from the Head of School of Arts, Histories and Cultures (or the Vice- President). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been possible without the support of many people that have constellated my life with wisdom, understanding and love. My most sincere thanks goes to Dr. Rajinder Kumar Dudrah who is as exceptional scholar, adviser and friend. Dr. Dudrah guided my ideas into structure and meaning with constant interest and „tough love‟. My thesis also benefited from the precious suggestions from Dr. Susan Rutherford and Dr. David Butler during the early stages of my Ph.D. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Bachchu and all the respondents in the Esquilino quarter in Rome, without their co-operation the socio-cultural enquiry could not have taken place. I would also like to express my special thanks to Dr. Sergio Scapagnini, Mr. Kabir Bedi, Mr. Gabriele Salvatores, Mr. Riccardo Tozzi and Ms. Selvaggia Velo for their invaluable opinions during interviews. I am particularly grateful to the AHRC award without which I could not have expanded my research into a PhD-length project; the AHRC provided a part of the funding necessary to complete my field work and the course of study. This project would have been unthinkable in so many ways without the support of my dear friends. They sustained me every time I thought „I cannot make it‟; heartfelt thanks goes to Paola, Arun, Chiara, Filippo, Smita, Sweta and my friends and colleagues Shajjad and Mariano who have offered me friendship and constant intellectual interaction. Special thanks to Alpesh, my eternal friend with whom I could engage intellectually deeper and deeper into South Asian culture and affects. Last but not least, I would like to thank my mom Maria, who placed confidence and conviction in my work and in my abilities, constantly encouraging me to achieve my dreams and supported me until the end. I would like to thank my father for supporting this work during its initial stages and my to-be in-laws who inspired me to look beyond cultural differences. This project would not have meaning and could not exist without my partner Sridhar, who always remarks how much Indo-Italian he is and how much Italo-Indian I am making our relationship the core of this research, which constantly moves our cultures closer to each other. Without his extraordinary help and support this work could not have been conceived or completed, and this journey could not have started. Table of Contents 1. Chapter 1: Introduction - Observations on the Theory of Aesthetic of Emotions and its Relevance to the Indo-Italian Case ................................................................................................... 10 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 10 Social and Theoretical Premises: An Account .................................................................................... 11 Notes on the History of Aesthetics, Emotions and Aesthetic of Emotions ......................................... 15 Reasoning on the Concept of Emotions ............................................................................................. 28 Emotions and Cultural Studies ........................................................................................................... 32 Adopted Methodologies .................................................................................................................... 36 A Premise ...................................................................................................................................... 36 Remarks on Methodology ............................................................................................................. 37 Textual Analysis............................................................................................................................. 39 Textual Analysis and Theories ....................................................................................................... 40 Questionnaire (in the Esquilino) and Extended Interview with Representatives from both Cinematographic Industries .......................................................................................................... 42 Using the Questionnaire .......................................................................................................... 43 Using Extended Interviews ....................................................................................................... 44 Journeys as a part of methodology ............................................................................................... 45 Combination of Methods .............................................................................................................. 46 Strengths and/or Limits of a Multiple – Interdisciplinary – Research ................................................ 47 Aesthetic and Cultural Studies: An Account ......................................................................................