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Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies

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Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies University of South Florida Scholar Commons Graduate Theses and Dissertations Graduate School June 2019 Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies Ryan A. D'souza University of South Florida, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd Part of the Communication Commons, and the South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons Scholar Commons Citation D'souza, Ryan A., "Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. https://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/7772 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at Scholar Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Scholar Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Representations of Indian Christians in Bollywood Movies by Ryan A. D’Souza A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy of Communication Department of Communication College of Arts and Sciences University of South Florida Major Professor: Mahuya Pal, Ph.D. Rachel Dubrofsky, Ph.D. Aisha Durham, Ph.D. Darcie Fontaine, Ph.D. Date of Approval: April 24, 2019 Keywords: emasculation, Hindu Modernity, hypersexualization, Indian Christianity, secularism Copyright © 2019, Ryan A. D’Souza Dedication In memory of the people whose blood coagulates the soil of this land. Acknowledgements Around the time that I officially started writing this dissertation, students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – India organized in opposition to the Hindu Right’s diabolical politics defeating the nation’s hope for a secular polity. Among these students, Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid assumed prominent roles, primarily because they were arrested with a few others on charges of sedition…in a democratic republic. I was drawn to the emerging youth movement, and the politics of Kumar and Khalid because they were Ph.D. Candidates like me. But our respective approaches to politics were significantly different. They were arrested, beaten, and publicly vilified on national media while I was couched in the comforts of academic life in United States. Khalid, in particular, escaped an assassination attempt while I witnessed western academics laying on the floor in a hotel ballroom as a cutesy performance of “putting bodies on the line and words into action.” I would like to say I was (and am) in solidarity with Khalid and Kumar but the risks were (and are) never the same. However, I learned immensely from these two men – my peers. They forced me to rethink the way I characterized past governments with every critique they leveled against the present Government. They illuminated with actions and words how to convert theory into a praxis for everyday life. They encouraged me to look at the continuities, intersections, and resistances to domination. They motivated me to think with belligerence as well as humor. They helped me refuse being reduced to my immediate identity. I am indebted to Kumar and Khalid for all that they taught me over the past few years. inquilab zindabad. There are several people at the University of South Florida who contributed in many ways to the completion of this dissertation. But I want to acknowledge those who contributed in the “non-academic” ways. Mikki, Paige, Danielle, April, and Tamar at the Department of Communication who ensured I submitted all my documents on time, remained in compliance, received stipends in full, and attended to every other logistical detail that afforded me the peace of mind to focus on my work. I, additionally, acknowledge those who work at USF Libraries – I do not know anyone’s names, I do not know anyone’s faces, nada. However, I owe them a big thank you for delivering every article, book, book chapter, and random resources I requested. I also acknowledge the thankless labor of the janitorial staff who are dressed in a manner that they merge with the background – to never be seen. You all work the odd hours – again, to never be seen – so that my knowledge production is not disturbed. I appreciate the clean offices, empty trashcans, usable washrooms, and vacuumed carpets. Finally, the people whom I can never appreciate enough. Ma, thank you for this life from day one. Mahuya and Ambar (my academic parents), thank you for all the advice from day one. Marquese, thank you for reasoning in prose from day one. Jess, thank you for (sharing) your love (for high theory) from day one. Table of Contents Abstract ................................................................................................................................ iii Chapter One: Indian Christians and Bollywood Movies ...........................................................1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................1 Finding Fanny: A Glimpse of Christian Life ................................................................3 Ghar Wapsi: A Glimpse of Political Life ......................................................................8 A Communication Perspective ....................................................................................12 Indian Christianity and South Asian Studies ...............................................................14 Contributions to Scholarship........................................................................................19 Organization of Chapters .............................................................................................22 References ....................................................................................................................25 Chapter Two: Postcolonial Media Studies ...............................................................................32 Introduction ..................................................................................................................32 Postcolonial Studies in Communication ......................................................................35 Some Complications with Postcolonial Studies ..........................................................38 The Praxis of Postcolonial Media Studies ...................................................................42 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................45 References ....................................................................................................................46 Chapter Three: Watching the Christian Woman ......................................................................50 Introduction ..................................................................................................................50 Watching the Christian Woman ...................................................................................52 Watching Women with their Families .........................................................................61 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................68 References ....................................................................................................................70 Chapter Four: Watching the Christian Man .............................................................................73 Introduction ..................................................................................................................73 Watching the Christian Man ........................................................................................76 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................88 References ....................................................................................................................90 Chapter Five: Watching Christians in Hindu Modernity .........................................................94 Introduction ..................................................................................................................94 Watching Modernity ....................................................................................................97 Conclusion .................................................................................................................110 References ..................................................................................................................112 i Chapter Six: Media and Postcolonialism ...............................................................................116 Introduction ...............................................................................................................116 Democracy, Media, and Secularism ..........................................................................119 Bollywood’s Post-Coloniality and Representations of Postcolonialism ...................123 Christian’s Post-Coloniality in the Post-Colonial Hindu Nation ...............................127 Conclusion .................................................................................................................129 References ..................................................................................................................130 Appendix ..............................................................................................................................133 iii Abstract
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