Visual

rhetoric and modern South Asian history

(Dr Annamaria Motrescu-Mayes) Course Descrip6on This course examines the importance of theories of visual culture to teaching modern South Asian history. It introduces Cambridge University academics, students and researchers of South Asia to media research skills required when exploring the ideologies conveyed by the visual dimension of South Asias modern history. It also surveys cri6cal debates about the complementarity between tradi6onal text-based historiography and visual literacy. The course draws extensively on the unique collec6on of colonial amateur lms held by the Centre of South Asian Studies and so promotes the use of this lm genre in the history and media studies curriculum. The course covers South Asian history from 1860s onwards and examines the visual construc6ons of space, culture, gender and race relevant to the areas of India, Pakistan, Nepal and the Himalayas. Moreover, it oers a cri6cal overview of how South Asian history and cultural iden66es have been (mis-)represented across specic visual narra6ves, from pain6ngs, drawings, posters, adver6sements to amateur lms, documentaries, newsreels, feature, ethnographic and anima6on lms. Each seminar explores a selec6on of such visuals in rela6on to key events and social developments in modern South Asian history. Occasionally, interview excerpts selected from the Centre of South Asian Studies oral history archive complement the visual case studies. The Visual rhetoric and modern South Asian history course inscribes the use of archival visual and aural records within current theore6cal, methodological and historical frameworks concerned with key debates and themes in modern South Asian history. It draws on the oTen conic6ng rela6on between established historiography and visual culture with its inherent poten6al for conrming or challenging tradi6onal text-based research resources. The course expands the debate about tradi6onal means of historical inves6ga6on and develops a compara6ve framework in which the par6cipants compare wriVen documents with a variety of visual records per6nent to par6cular themes and topics. Course Schedule Eight weekly classes scheduled in Michaelmas Term from 15th October to 26th November 2013. Each class is organized thema6cally and consists of introduc6on and discussion of the respec6ve theme and related screenings followed by open discussion. This course module is open to all those studying or with an interest in modern South Asian history and visual culture. Time and Loca6on: Tuesdays, 4:00 5:30p.m. in S3 Seminar Room. Seminar seven, Sri Lankas visual iden6ty, will take place on Monday 25th November between 4:30 -6:00p.m, also in S3 Seminar Room, Alison Richard Building, 7 West Road, Cambridge, CB3 9DP. Contact: amm230@cam.ac.uk

Course Schedule
15 October 2013
Colonial South Asia: cultural conicts and racial hierarchies This seminar explores ques6ons about the ideological impact of the Bri6sh rule in India and how it had been translated across visual representa6on of cultural conicts and racial hierarchies. A par6cular focus is put on comparing rst person visual narra6ves, i.e. colonial amateur lms, with commercial and propaganda produc6ons.

22 October 2013
Visual anthropological perspec9ves on South Asian society While stereotypical illustra6ons of South Asian society permeate most of its commercial and ocial representa6ons, amateur lms and photographs oTen contribute towards an ethnographic representa6on of it. This seminar iden6es several visual anthropological methods able to further new perspec6ves on modern South Asian society.

29 October 2013 Gendered poli9cs in the visual representa9on of South Asia This seminar examines several visual records, from pain6ngs, posters, to lm excerpts and adver6sements, and evaluates how gender poli6cs and conict are represented and representa6ve of modern South Asian history. This session also includes a discussion of selected photographs from the Centre of South Asian Studies archive. 5 November 2013
The Indian Na9onal Movement This seminar covers key visual records of the Indian Na6onal Movement. Film clips selected from newsreels, feature lms and documentaries, alongside posters and newspaper illustra6ons are discussed in rela6on to rare photographic records selected from Bri6sh and Indian archives. The seminar also pays a par6cular aVen6on to the documentary merit of several amateur lms and photographs held by the CSAS (Cambridge) and the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (Delhi).

Course Schedule
12 November 2013
Par99on: poli9cs, memory and experience Following the seminar on The Indian Na6onal Movement, this session proposes a compara6ve analysis of selected visual records, interviews and private papers documen6ng several c6onalized narra6ves as well as rst-hand experiences of Par66on. The seminar includes sub-thema6c strands that look at gender, military and diploma6c conict. (Par6cipants might nd some of the images disturbing.)

19 November 2013
APer Independence: India, Pakistan and Bangladesh How did India, Pakistan and Bangladesh feature in commercial, governmental and ethnographic visual records made post Independence and what were the poli6cal agendas that inuenced their representa6on? This seminar explores such ques6ons and includes a selec6on of Bri6sh, American, Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi visual records that are discussed in a compara6ve analysis with contemporary history text books.

25 November 2013 Sri Lankas visual iden9ty: from Ceylon tea to Tamil Tigers Issues of imperial and na6onal representa6ons of Ceylon / Sri Lankas cultural and economic tradi6ons and of recent military conict are discussed in rela6on to specic cinema6c narra6ves, from colonial documentaries to TV reportages. (Par6cipants might nd some of the images disturbing.)

26 November 2013 Contemporary South Asian visual construc9ons of Self and Na9on in lm From post-Independence home movies and art lms to propaganda produc6ons and Bollywood cinema, this session will propose an integrated approach of the visual literacy that denes as well as challenges current interpreta6ons of South Asian iden6ty and society...

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