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Neurotic Realism Cinema, Otherness and the New Indian Middle Class

Neurotic Realism Cinema, Otherness and the New Indian Middle Class

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Neurotic Realism Cinema, Otherness and the New Indian Middle Class
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<strong>CENTRE FOR MEDIA STUDIES SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES</strong> a talk by <strong>Dr. Sarunas Paunksnis</strong> (Assistant Professor, Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania &amp;Visiting Fellow, CMS, JNU.) <strong>on</strong> <strong>Neurotic Realism Cinema, Otherness and the New Indian Middle Class</strong> <strong>DATE: 13th April 2016</strong> Neoliberalism in India has created spaces not belonging to "shining", neoliberal India and signifying everything the "new" self is not. New realism, a peculiar film form as part of "new" India's visual culture is instrumental both in constructing, and representing the new dichotomies of self and Other. Other in this case might mean otherness that manifests itself as formless outside space infused with fear, violence and barbarity – a space of north Indian village. New realist films often focus on the space that is peripheral to the class they are aimed at – this space can be the urban underworld, uncanny middle class space, or a mofussil periphery. The films construct what I would like to term the Other India, but in any case, gazing is performed from the metropolis, and it is directed at the space in-between, both real and imagined at the same time, a space we may call heterotopian. These problems – of the self, of the Other, of home and border – are articulated throughout the new realism, the new entertainment, or what one can call a neurotic realism. Neoliberalism can be understood as working through neurosis, forging a neurotic subject: subject who experiences constant anxiety at home (home must be protected from the outside threats), as well as outside the homely space. The paper shall address these issues by looking at two recent films that evoke these tensions – NH10 (dir. Navdeep Singh, 2015) and Highway (dir. Imtiaz Ali, 2014). Sarunas Paunksnis is an Assistant Professor in Media Philosophy at Kaunas University of Technology in Kaunas, Lithuania, and a Visiting Fellow at Centre for Media Studies, JNU. Previously he held visiting fellowships at SOAS, London; Columbia University, New York; as well as JNU. His main research areas include but are not limited to Indian cinema, postcolonial theory, cultural theory, postmodernism, Globalization. He has recently edited and published a book titled Dislocating Globality: Deterritorialization, Difference and Resistance (Brill, 2015), and is currently working on a book on Hindi cinema.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.