Film Dance, Female Stardom, and the Production of Gender in Popular Hindi Cinema
FILM DANCE, FEMALE STARDOM, AND THE PRODUCTION OF GENDER IN POPULAR HINDI CINEMA by Usha Iyer B. A. in English Literature, St. Xavier’s College, Bombay, India, 1994 Masters in Communication Studies, University of Pune, India, 1996 M.A. in English Literature, Centre for English and Foreign Languages, Hyderabad, India, 2006 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of PhD in English/Film Studies University of Pittsburgh 2014 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH KENNETH P. DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Usha Iyer It was defended on August 18, 2014 and approved by Marcia Landy, Distinguished Professor, English and Film Studies Lucy Fischer, Distinguished Professor, English and Film Studies Ranjani Mazumdar, Associate Professor, School of Arts & Aesthetics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India Dissertation Advisor: Neepa Majumdar, Associate Professor, English and Film Studies ii Copyright © by Usha Iyer 2014 iii FILM DANCE, FEMALE STARDOM, AND THE PRODUCTION OF GENDER IN POPULAR HINDI CINEMA Usha Iyer, PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2014 This dissertation undertakes a historical and theoretical analysis of constructions of gender and sexuality through popular Hindi film dance. This hybrid dance form, primarily staged by female performers until recently, has featured a syncretic mix of Indian classical and folk dance traditions as well as transnational dance forms since the early 20th century. My study of this popular cultural form explores the interactions of Hindi cinema with indigenous and foreign dance forms, constructions of the performing body and of spaces of performance, differing narratives and histories of male and female stardom, and the mechanisms for the ideological constitution of the Indian spectator-subject.
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