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H-ASIA December 10, 2013 CFP: ‘Tribes’ on Screen: Mediatizing South Asian ‘Indigeneity’ ********************************************************************** From: "Maaker, Erik de" <MAAKER@FSW.leidenuniv.nl> CALL FOR PAPERS: ‘Tribes’ on Screen: Mediatizing South Asian ‘Indigeneity’ Throughout South Asia the importance attributed to films, documentaries and videos that cater to ‘indigenous’ audiences is growing. To fit in with what producers assume is such local audiences’ taste, dedicated films, documentaries and videos are produced. These include specific references to identifiers such as religion, costume, material culture and landscape, while ‘indigenous’ language tends to play a prominent role as well. In what respects does this ‘phrasing’ trigger or even demand the invention of cultural characteristics, and how do these connect to national and global imaginations of ‘indigeneity’? How is their production entangled with entrepreneurship, artisticity, state sponsorship, and the interests of politicians? In what ways does the availability of new technologies impact modes of dissemination? What effects do these have on claims to ‘indigeneity’ as advanced by local, national and global social movements? In South Asia, ‘indigeneity’ is a disputed concept. On the one hand, the term is associated with administrative labels such as ‘tribe’ (India), ‘upojati’ (Bangladesh) or ‘qaum’ (Pakistan), which can—notably in India—translate into significant advantages. On the other hand, the term ‘indigenous’ often seems to serve as a replacement or synonym for earlier notions such as ‘primitive’ or ‘backward’. Fitting into the ‘indigenous slot’ (Karlsson 2003) then also results in a positioning at the margins of South Asia’s post-colonial nations (Shah 2010, Rycroft & Dasgupta 2011). Worldwide, ‘indigenous’ media are on the rise (Wilson & Stewart 2008). Their emergence raises questions regarding dedicated media scapes that are essential to their form and impact. In South Asia, these media scapes are marked by a commercial, audience oriented ‘localization’ of content. Circulation of this localized content, through TV channels, cinema halls, newspapers, VCDs, USB-sticks and so on is rapidly expanding, also as a consequence of the increasing revenue resulting from advertisements (see Manuel 1993, Mehta 2008, Rao 2010 Jeffrey and Doron 2013) Scrutinizing these diverse mediascapes and practices of South Asia for ‘indigenous’ content can contribute to an understanding of how imaginations of indigeneity come about, and ‘indigenous’ publics are made. The papers presented in this seminar will become part of a peer reviewed edited volume, to be published with an internationally reputed academic publisher. The volume will provide a perspective on the growing importance of ‘indigenous’ media in South Asia, for a readership of students in fields such as media studies, South Asian studies and anthropology and history. Rather than limiting the approach to the emancipatory aspects of ‘indigeneity’, as studies dedicated to ‘indigenous’ media so far have tended to do, contributions will also give attention to the pejoratives and ambivalent impacts that are called up in this context. The projected volume is thus also envisioned to make a major contribution to political and sociological understandings of ‘indigeneity’ as an increasingly important social concept. The workshop is structured around four core topics: (1) sub-regional popular cinema and aesthetics of community; (2) vernacular political videos; (3) documentaries and (4) ‘indigenous’ ethnography. We invite papers on the core topics, but also transcending these that are rooted in ethnography, historiography and/or media analysis and critically explore the production, circulation and consumption of ‘indigenous’ media. On July 22nd 2014 a workshop will be held at the Museum of Ethnology in Zurich that is dedicated to the presentation and discussion of the papers to be included in the edited volume. The workshop takes place one day preceding the 23rd European Conference of South Asian Studies, which will also be held at Zurich (unfortunately, the conveners cannot sponsor accommodation or travel). Deadline for abstracts (300 words) is February 1st 2014. The conveners will notify papers that are accepted by March 1st 2014. Deadline for draft papers (5000 words) is June 1st 2014. Conveners: Markus Schleiter (Frobenius Institute, Goethe University): mschleiter@yahoo.com Erik de Maaker (Dept. of Cultural Anthropology & Development Sociology, Leiden U.): maaker@fsw.leidenuniv.nl ********************************************************************** To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu For holidays or short absences send post to: <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/ --
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