India Uncovered - Representations in Film and Fiction
| Module title | India Uncovered - Representations in Film and Fiction |
|---|---|
| Module code | EAS3177 |
| Academic year | 2022/3 |
| Credits | 30 |
| Module staff | Florian Stadtler (Convenor) |
| Duration: Term | 1 | 2 | 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Duration: Weeks | 12 |
| Number students taking module (anticipated) | 16 |
|---|
Module description
Indian cinema and the Indian English novel have developed distinctive narrative and aesthetic styles drawn from a wide range of source materials. Though following different trajectories, increasingly these forms of artistic expression have cross-fertilised each other. In this module you will examine these processes by focusing on the way in which filmic and fictional texts articulate the legacy of India’s colonial past, its postcolonial modernity and present, and diasporic realities. You will engage with comparative explorations of Indian popular cinema, Bollywood and the Indian novel in English, and also consider other genres, including short stories, British Asian and South Asian art house cinemas.
Module aims - intentions of the module
This module will introduce you to representations of India in fiction and film through diverse themes, from images of British colonialism, to narratives of Partition and the newly independent India, portraits of cityscapes of Bombay/Mumbai and Calcutta/Kolkata, to imaginings of India’s diasporic communities. Through seminar discussions, presentations and workshops you will engage critically and creatively with Indian popular culture, film and literature and how these productions explore questions of class, diasporic, gender, national, racial, religious and sexual identities. You will explore these themes through a variety of genres, including novels, short stories, Indian art house, popular, diasporic cinemas and Bollywood. You will read these texts using a wide range of analytical tools and theoretical lenses, such as colonial and postcolonial discourse analysis, film theory, and transcultural theory. Teaching is by weekly seminar discussion, which will focus on an in-depth discussion of the literary and filmic texts, and one-hour workshop lectures, which will offer you the opportunity to explore the wider critical, historical and theoretical contexts of the primary texts. There will also be a weekly film viewings.
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)
ILO: Module-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 1. Demonstrate an informed appreciation of specific films and literary texts of the Indian subcontinent of the 20th and 21st centuries
- 2. Demonstrate an ability to relate Indian film and fiction to different textual forms and media and to the socio-political context out of which they arose
- 3. Articulate and evaluate the significance of fictional and filmic texts through different theoretical perspectives (Postcolonialism, Transnationalism, Modernism, Postmodernism)
- 4. Identify how filmmakers and writers respond to as well as question Indias modernity and its historical and literary legacy in the context of post-independence ideologies
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 5. Demonstrate an advanced ability to analyse literature and film and to relate their concerns and modes of representation to different social, political, economic and historical contexts
- 6. Demonstrate advanced skills in the close formal, thematic, generic, comparative and authorial analysis of different kinds of film and fiction
- 7. Demonstrate advanced skills in the research and evaluation of relevant critical, historical and theoretical materials for the study of film and literature
- 8. Demonstrate an advanced ability to interrelate texts and discourses in relation to familiar and new conceptual frameworks, and an ability to link and synthesise different modes of analyses of relevant theoretical ideas
ILO: Personal and key skills
On successfully completing the module you will be able to...
- 9. Through essay-writing, demonstrate appropriate research and bibliographical skills, a capacity to construct a coherent, substantial argument, a capacity to write clear and correct prose and develop planning, organisational and problem solving skills
- 10. Through research for seminars, presentations and essays, demonstrate advanced proficiency in identifying appropriate primary and secondary materials, information analysis and work on your own initiative
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
- Images of the Raj
- Partition and its legacies
- Mythic Nations, National Myths
- Cultures of ‘New India’
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 66 | 234 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 22 | Seminars |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 11 | Workshops |
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 33 | Film viewing |
| Guided Independent Study | 103 | Seminar preparation (individual) |
| Guided Independent Study | 131 | Reading, research and essay preparation |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 100 | 0 | 0 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sequence analysis/close reading analysis | 30 | 2500 words | 1-10 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
| Essay Plan | 20 | 1000 words | 1-10 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
| Essay | 50 | 3000 words | 1-10 | Feedback sheet with opportunity for tutorial follow-up |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sequence analysis/close reading analysis | Sequence analysis/close reading analysis | 1-10 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Essay plan | Essay plan | 1-10 | Referral/Deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-10 | Referral/Deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
Indicative Core Reading
- Anand, Mulk Raj, Untouchable (London: Penguin Classics, 2014)
- Forster, E.M., A Passage to India (London: Penguin Classics, 2005)
- Sidhwa, Bapsi, Ice-Candy Man (London: Daunt Books, 2016)
Indicative Core Viewing
- 1947 – Earth (Deepa Mehta, dir. 1998)
- Bhaji on the Beach (Gurinder Chadha, dir. 1993)
- Lagaan (Ashutosh Gowariker, dir. 2001)
- Mahanagar (Satyajit Ray, dir. 1963)
(N.B.: All non-English language films will be screened with subtitles)
Further Secondary Reading
- Anjaria, Ulka, ed. A History of the Indian Novel in English (Cambridge: CUP, 2010)
- Desai, Jigna. Beyond Bollywood: The Cultural Politics of South Asian Diasporic Film (New York: Routledge, 2004)
- Dwyer, Rachel. Bollywood’s IndiaHindi Cinema as a Guide to Contemporary India (London: Reaktion Books, 2014)
- Gopal, Priyamvada. The Indian English Novel: Nation, History, and Narration (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009)
- Mishra, Vijay. Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire (New York, Routledge, 2002)
- Nasta, Susheila. Home Truths: Fictions of the South Asian Diaspora (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2001)
Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources
- ELE: https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=4399
- ELE site will include seminar and workshop schedules, week-by-week supplementary reading in PDF format, recommended further reading, and internet resources. Additional slides and handouts will be uploaded weekly.
Indicative learning resources - Other resources
Reading for week 1:
- E.M. Forster, A Passage to India (London: Penguin Classics, 2005)
| Credit value | 30 |
|---|---|
| Module ECTS | 15 |
| Module pre-requisites | None |
| Module co-requisites | None |
| NQF level (module) | 6 |
| Available as distance learning? | No |
| Origin date | 01/01/2014 |
| Last revision date | 17/05/2021 |
