Debarshi P R A S A D Nath | Tezpur University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Debarshi P R A S A D Nath
Quarterly Review of Film and Video , 2023
Ethnicities, Mar 5, 2022
This paper argues that the emergence of social media as a new public sphere has shaped masculine ... more This paper argues that the emergence of social media as a new public sphere has shaped masculine identity in the cyber platform. Such masculinity in Assamese society (the Assamese-speaking community), based on the images of the ideal Assamese man is linked with a form of Assamese nationalistic masculinity that gathered momentum during the Assam Movement (1979–1985). Politics of identity in Assam is basically trapped in the world of appearances, fighting real and imaginary enemies, and drawing strength from prejudices and misconceptions of groups, about themselves and others. This process of identity creation also shaped the identity of the “ideal” Assamese man in the recent socio-political history of Assam. This article is an attempt to define how masculinity works in the cyber world by focusing attention on Assamese nationalistic masculinity which is based on the image of the “RealAssamese Man.” The “Real Assamese Man,” in turn, draws inspiration from a socio-cultural context which started with the creation of Assamese iconographies of masculinity which were later transformed and appropriated to serve the purpose of identity-politics.
Routledge eBooks, Jun 13, 2023
Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Feb 27, 2023
Asian Cinema, Oct 1, 2019
The exploitation of nature for man’s insatiable desires is analogous to the subordination of ethn... more The exploitation of nature for man’s insatiable desires is analogous to the subordination of ethnic minorities in many third world countries. This has also found resonance in the cinematic representations of the natural environment and the ethnic and racial profiling of people of these countries. The Northeast of India has always found little mention in the dominant discourse of the Indian nation. Along with this, the age-old rhetoric of exploitation of its natural resources and the lackadaisical attitude of the Indian state towards its people has led to a growing sense of alienation among the people of this peripheral Indian land. The matter is further aggravated by the region’s distorted representations in popular Bollywood films. The article offers an ecocritical reading of two Bollywood films about Northeast India to understand how cinematic landscapes can be used to impart ideas about specific places. We argue that the very landscapes the filmmakers use to present ideas about places can be used to highlight the politics of place-based identities and to attempt a critique of their position in the nationalist discourse.
Journal of Creative Communications, Aug 31, 2018
The Danish Girl presents the life history of a transgender person in early twentieth century Denm... more The Danish Girl presents the life history of a transgender person in early twentieth century Denmark and is remarkable for its use of visual codes to broach important questions on human subjectivity. The article probes deep into the social structure that frames subjectivity and questions the very idea of the symbolic. It looks at how the filmmaker makes use of cinematic elements as well as various codes and tropes provided to him by psychoanalysis, to critique the conventional understanding of phallic power. Grounded on the established domains of gender theorization, the article is therefore an interpretative analysis of the film that attempts to subvert these very discourses that frame our understanding of gender performance.
Media Asia, Apr 3, 2017
As a cultural text, films are recognized to have powerful influence in the construction of nation... more As a cultural text, films are recognized to have powerful influence in the construction of national identities. While debates regarding the scarce representation of Northeast India in the national media continue to become a constant source of deliberation, the paper seeks to look into the dominant Hindi film's representation of the region and how this positions the Northeast in the national imagination of the audience. It discusses the idea of nationhood with the return to the popular concepts of self and the other. The findings are based on the reading of four popular films made on the region
Routledge eBooks, Mar 23, 2023
Critical Arts, 2015
Recent literature on intertextuality identifies two tendencies, both of which tend to overlook it... more Recent literature on intertextuality identifies two tendencies, both of which tend to overlook its connection to ideology: one is the trend of hyper-theorisation, the other is under-theorisation. While the former establishes intertextuality as an all-encompassing 'super' theory, the latter makes it a mere matter of hunting for traces of some texts that are discernible in a given text. This article analyses television commercials, promoting prominent cellular phone network service providers in Sri Lanka, that were telecast during the past ten years, with a view to grasping how intertextuality becomes a live social process and how it is connected to ideology and localisation in advertising. The article discusses how the localisation of cellular phone network service providers' television commercials in Sri Lanka has gradually become a key site for ideological reproduction/reinforcement, even leading to trends of war heroworship during the intensified stage of the civil war in the country (1983-2009). Thus, the article examines the intersection of interlinking texts, ideologies, markets and social life.
Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2017
The term ‘cultural icon’ is generally used to refer to individuals or images, objects, visual sig... more The term ‘cultural icon’ is generally used to refer to individuals or images, objects, visual sign, monuments, space etc. In semiotics the term ‘icon’ is used to refer to a sign that bears close resemblance to the object that it stands for. Icons are particularly influential signifiers because they are immediately identifiable and carry complex cultural codes in a compact image. In this paper the understanding of ‘cultural icon’ is not limited to semiotics. Following Keyan Tomaselli and David Scott in Cultural Icons (2009), we believe that cultural icons are purposive constructions. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyze the association of ‘desirable’ meanings to a cultural icon (while dropping ‘undesirable’ ones); thus, it is imperative that we look at the changing socio-political contexts behind such purposive constructions. With this in mind, we look at the iconic figure of Bishnuprasad Rabha who has been one of the most revered figures in the cultural history of Assam...
Economic and Political Weekly, Sep 11, 2014
CINEJ Cinema Journal, 2014
Kalpana Lajmi adapts Mahesweta Devi’s short story to highlight the plight of a woman in the syste... more Kalpana Lajmi adapts Mahesweta Devi’s short story to highlight the plight of a woman in the system of exploitation and hunger. Amidst the never ending class struggle, that Devi has so effectively depicted, the struggle of gender becomes the issue of highlight for Lajmi. In poverty and prosperity she remains the same. In the search for the self, Lajmi tries to discover a language through which the subaltern may speak and in Rudaali it is the language of tears. Tears that have been eternally associated with the female become the unique language of the feminine to speak for themselves in Lajmi and Devi. In the cultural terrain where language of man is the norm Rudaali is an exception.
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 2012
Volume 14 (2012) Issue 2 Article 2 A Af fr ric ica a a and I nd Indi ndia in the N a in the No ov... more Volume 14 (2012) Issue 2 Article 2 A Af fr ric ica a a and I nd Indi ndia in the N a in the No ovel vels of D s of Dai a ai and E nd Emechet mecheta a D De eb ba arshi P rshi Pr ra as sa ad N d Na ath th
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities
In a contemporary phase of competing ethnonationalism, Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnuprasad Rava... more In a contemporary phase of competing ethnonationalism, Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnuprasad Rava continue to remain relevant to Assamese society. This is proven by the simple fact that every artist from Assam never let go of the opportunity to establish their allegiance to Rava and Agarwala. Unquestionably, the two most revered cultural heroes of Assam provided a way forward for a more inclusive Assamese society. The fertile contexts provided by the Indian Freedom Movement, the world wars, the Russian Revolution, and the Chinese Revolution and the cultural heritage of Assam shaped their vision and understanding of nationalism and their eclecticism. Music and theatre were two of the most powerful mediums through which they chose to communicate with the masses. This paper aims at critically assessing the concept of nationalism in select plays of Agarwala and Rava. The plays Khanikar, Lobhita and Kanaklata by Jyotiprasad Agarwala and, Krishak and Sapon Kuwali by Bishnuprasad Rava have...
Quarterly Review of Film and Video , 2023
Ethnicities, Mar 5, 2022
This paper argues that the emergence of social media as a new public sphere has shaped masculine ... more This paper argues that the emergence of social media as a new public sphere has shaped masculine identity in the cyber platform. Such masculinity in Assamese society (the Assamese-speaking community), based on the images of the ideal Assamese man is linked with a form of Assamese nationalistic masculinity that gathered momentum during the Assam Movement (1979–1985). Politics of identity in Assam is basically trapped in the world of appearances, fighting real and imaginary enemies, and drawing strength from prejudices and misconceptions of groups, about themselves and others. This process of identity creation also shaped the identity of the “ideal” Assamese man in the recent socio-political history of Assam. This article is an attempt to define how masculinity works in the cyber world by focusing attention on Assamese nationalistic masculinity which is based on the image of the “RealAssamese Man.” The “Real Assamese Man,” in turn, draws inspiration from a socio-cultural context which started with the creation of Assamese iconographies of masculinity which were later transformed and appropriated to serve the purpose of identity-politics.
Routledge eBooks, Jun 13, 2023
Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Feb 27, 2023
Asian Cinema, Oct 1, 2019
The exploitation of nature for man’s insatiable desires is analogous to the subordination of ethn... more The exploitation of nature for man’s insatiable desires is analogous to the subordination of ethnic minorities in many third world countries. This has also found resonance in the cinematic representations of the natural environment and the ethnic and racial profiling of people of these countries. The Northeast of India has always found little mention in the dominant discourse of the Indian nation. Along with this, the age-old rhetoric of exploitation of its natural resources and the lackadaisical attitude of the Indian state towards its people has led to a growing sense of alienation among the people of this peripheral Indian land. The matter is further aggravated by the region’s distorted representations in popular Bollywood films. The article offers an ecocritical reading of two Bollywood films about Northeast India to understand how cinematic landscapes can be used to impart ideas about specific places. We argue that the very landscapes the filmmakers use to present ideas about places can be used to highlight the politics of place-based identities and to attempt a critique of their position in the nationalist discourse.
Journal of Creative Communications, Aug 31, 2018
The Danish Girl presents the life history of a transgender person in early twentieth century Denm... more The Danish Girl presents the life history of a transgender person in early twentieth century Denmark and is remarkable for its use of visual codes to broach important questions on human subjectivity. The article probes deep into the social structure that frames subjectivity and questions the very idea of the symbolic. It looks at how the filmmaker makes use of cinematic elements as well as various codes and tropes provided to him by psychoanalysis, to critique the conventional understanding of phallic power. Grounded on the established domains of gender theorization, the article is therefore an interpretative analysis of the film that attempts to subvert these very discourses that frame our understanding of gender performance.
Media Asia, Apr 3, 2017
As a cultural text, films are recognized to have powerful influence in the construction of nation... more As a cultural text, films are recognized to have powerful influence in the construction of national identities. While debates regarding the scarce representation of Northeast India in the national media continue to become a constant source of deliberation, the paper seeks to look into the dominant Hindi film's representation of the region and how this positions the Northeast in the national imagination of the audience. It discusses the idea of nationhood with the return to the popular concepts of self and the other. The findings are based on the reading of four popular films made on the region
Routledge eBooks, Mar 23, 2023
Critical Arts, 2015
Recent literature on intertextuality identifies two tendencies, both of which tend to overlook it... more Recent literature on intertextuality identifies two tendencies, both of which tend to overlook its connection to ideology: one is the trend of hyper-theorisation, the other is under-theorisation. While the former establishes intertextuality as an all-encompassing 'super' theory, the latter makes it a mere matter of hunting for traces of some texts that are discernible in a given text. This article analyses television commercials, promoting prominent cellular phone network service providers in Sri Lanka, that were telecast during the past ten years, with a view to grasping how intertextuality becomes a live social process and how it is connected to ideology and localisation in advertising. The article discusses how the localisation of cellular phone network service providers' television commercials in Sri Lanka has gradually become a key site for ideological reproduction/reinforcement, even leading to trends of war heroworship during the intensified stage of the civil war in the country (1983-2009). Thus, the article examines the intersection of interlinking texts, ideologies, markets and social life.
Cosmopolitan Civil Societies: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2017
The term ‘cultural icon’ is generally used to refer to individuals or images, objects, visual sig... more The term ‘cultural icon’ is generally used to refer to individuals or images, objects, visual sign, monuments, space etc. In semiotics the term ‘icon’ is used to refer to a sign that bears close resemblance to the object that it stands for. Icons are particularly influential signifiers because they are immediately identifiable and carry complex cultural codes in a compact image. In this paper the understanding of ‘cultural icon’ is not limited to semiotics. Following Keyan Tomaselli and David Scott in Cultural Icons (2009), we believe that cultural icons are purposive constructions. An attempt has been made in this paper to analyze the association of ‘desirable’ meanings to a cultural icon (while dropping ‘undesirable’ ones); thus, it is imperative that we look at the changing socio-political contexts behind such purposive constructions. With this in mind, we look at the iconic figure of Bishnuprasad Rabha who has been one of the most revered figures in the cultural history of Assam...
Economic and Political Weekly, Sep 11, 2014
CINEJ Cinema Journal, 2014
Kalpana Lajmi adapts Mahesweta Devi’s short story to highlight the plight of a woman in the syste... more Kalpana Lajmi adapts Mahesweta Devi’s short story to highlight the plight of a woman in the system of exploitation and hunger. Amidst the never ending class struggle, that Devi has so effectively depicted, the struggle of gender becomes the issue of highlight for Lajmi. In poverty and prosperity she remains the same. In the search for the self, Lajmi tries to discover a language through which the subaltern may speak and in Rudaali it is the language of tears. Tears that have been eternally associated with the female become the unique language of the feminine to speak for themselves in Lajmi and Devi. In the cultural terrain where language of man is the norm Rudaali is an exception.
CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, 2012
Volume 14 (2012) Issue 2 Article 2 A Af fr ric ica a a and I nd Indi ndia in the N a in the No ov... more Volume 14 (2012) Issue 2 Article 2 A Af fr ric ica a a and I nd Indi ndia in the N a in the No ovel vels of D s of Dai a ai and E nd Emechet mecheta a D De eb ba arshi P rshi Pr ra as sa ad N d Na ath th
Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities
In a contemporary phase of competing ethnonationalism, Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnuprasad Rava... more In a contemporary phase of competing ethnonationalism, Jyotiprasad Agarwala and Bishnuprasad Rava continue to remain relevant to Assamese society. This is proven by the simple fact that every artist from Assam never let go of the opportunity to establish their allegiance to Rava and Agarwala. Unquestionably, the two most revered cultural heroes of Assam provided a way forward for a more inclusive Assamese society. The fertile contexts provided by the Indian Freedom Movement, the world wars, the Russian Revolution, and the Chinese Revolution and the cultural heritage of Assam shaped their vision and understanding of nationalism and their eclecticism. Music and theatre were two of the most powerful mediums through which they chose to communicate with the masses. This paper aims at critically assessing the concept of nationalism in select plays of Agarwala and Rava. The plays Khanikar, Lobhita and Kanaklata by Jyotiprasad Agarwala and, Krishak and Sapon Kuwali by Bishnuprasad Rava have...