Consuming Cultural Hegemony: Bollywood in Bangladesh

ISBN-13: 9783030317096 / Angielski / Miękka / 2021 / 243 str.

Harisur Rahman

Spis treści

Acknowledgements

Preface         

List of Abbreviation 

List of Figures          

List of Tables

Chapter 1: Introduction      

Toward the research problematics          

Conceptual scheme

From “cultural subscription” to cultural distinction        

Cultural hegemony 

Regional modernity as hegemony

Ethnographic setting          

Field setting 

Sampling and sample size

Data collection and analysis techniques

Hiatus in the fieldwork       

Ethical considerations       

Chapter outline       

References  

Chapter 2: From Partition to Hegemony: Bangladesh and Bangladeshi Films in the South Asian Context         

Background 

Bangladesh and its polemics with South Asia   

Bangladesh’s love-hate relationship with Indian film    

Film circulation and viewership in colonial East Bengal          

Sound, “Islamicate” culture and the crossover appeal of Hindi films 

Film circulation and viewership in East Pakistan          

Film circulation and viewership in independent Bangladesh  

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 3: Ethnographic Fieldwork: The Self as an Informant and an Observer    

Part one: Me as an informant       

My film-watching epiphany

Film and my rural middle-class identity   

Film and my urban middle-class identity

Part two: Me as an observer         

Defining the field and the value of multi-sited ethnography    

Entering into the field         

Experience in the CD/DVD stores: A space between “native” and “non-native”     

Experience with the cable operators        

Experience with the viewers         

Conclusion   

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 4: The Political Economy, Materiality and the Visceral Experience of Cable Television

Materiality of media and the creation of space  

Background of cable TV in Bangladesh 

Stages of circulation          

The arrival of DTH and the creation of the own control room  

Defining and controlling cable operators’ areas

Roles of cable operators and their interactions with subscribers       

Number of cable TV channels and films per week        

Conclusion   

References  

Chapter 5: The Cultural Economy of the CD/DVD Store and the Creation of Space         

Background 

The (re)production of CD/DVDs   

Promotion and pricing of CD/DVD

CD/DVD placement, supply and demand           

Selling and persuasion strategies

Volume of circulation of a new Hindi film

The CD/DVD business in transition        

Conclusion

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 6: Culture of Copying and Copying of Culture: Media “Piracy” in Bangladesh     

Culture of copying instead of “piracy”      

Media “piracy”, IP law, and Bangladesh 

Copying in Dhaka’s CD/DVD market       

Indian films and music via “video/movie channels”      

The circulation of Indian films and music via FTP and the internet    

Indian film music via mobile and FM radio         

Viewers’ practices and perceptions about copying and circulation   

Conclusion   

References  

Chapter 7: Belonging to Class: Hindi Film and the Formation of Middle Class Audience in Bangladesh 

Putting the film audience into perspective          

Defining class through cultural tastes     

Middle-class morality and film viewership          

Viewer interest in Hindi films and stars   

Viewer interest in Bollywood fashion and beauty         

Bollywood fashion at Dhaka’s Eid market           

Conclusion   

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 8: Negotiating Mediated Modernity and Culture: When “Soft Power” Becomes Hard

Negotiating “soft power”     

Controversy over theatrical access to Indian films       

Arguments against showing Hindi films in Bangladeshi theatres       

Arguments for showing Hindi films in Bangladeshi theatres   

Viewers’ opinions on theatrical access to Indian films 

Conclusion   

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 9: Bollywoodization or Ghettoization? The Bangladeshi Dream Factory is in Disarray   

The Bollywoodization of Bangladeshi films        

Labeling film with poverty  

The ‘discourse of obscenity’ and the alienation of the middle class  

The gentrification of bikolpo dhara (the alternative stream)     

Conclusion   

References  

Filmography 

Chapter 10: Summary and Conclusion  

`           Background 

Media circulation of culture

Copying and the commoditization of culture      

From cultural consumption to cultural hegemony         

Hegemony versus resistance       

The hegemony of Bollywood and the marginalized film industry in South Asia      

References

Index 

O autorze

Harisur Rahman is Assistant Professor at North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He holds a Ph.D. degree in anthropology from the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His dissertation examined the circulation and viewership of Indian films in Bangladesh. His research interests include media anthropology, cultural circulation and consumption, intercultural communication, film and media 

         

                  

Blurb

'Rahman’s book offers us some rich insights about the workings of cultural hegemony of Bollywood cinema in Bangladesh, not least relating to middle class media consumption practices. This book is a welcomed addition to the literature on film and media studies in the Bangladesh and popular Indian cinema contexts.'
— Professor Rajinder Dudrah, Birmingham City University, UK

'In the world of film scholarship, as in the world(s) of South Asian popular culture, Bollywood has enjoyed a hegemonic position. Rahman’s work opens a unique window on the social, political, academic, technological and cultural dynamics of that hegemony. He provides a long-needed voice for Bangaladeshi film culture and film industry.'
— Professor Gregory D Booth, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

'In an engaging and comprehensive manner the book provides an overview of the circulation of Bollywood films in Bangladesh and their impacts on society and culture industry. A must read for anyone interested in exploring the relationship between film consumption, cultural hegemony and social inequality.'
— Professor Kristin Skare Orgeret, Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

This book examines the circulation and viewership of Bollywood films and filmi modernity in Bangladesh. The writer poses a number of fundamental questions: what it means to be a Bangladeshi in South Asia, what it means to be a Bangladeshi fan of Hindi film, and how popular film reflects power relations in South Asia. The writer argues that partition has resulted in India holding hegemonic power over all of South Asia’s nation-states at the political, economic, and military levels–a situation that has made possible its cultural hegemony. The book draws on relevant literature from anthropology, sociology, film, media, communication, and cultural studies to explore the concepts of hegemony, circulation, viewership, cultural taste, and South Asian cultural history and politics.

Harisur Rahman is Assistant Professor at North South University in Dhaka, Bangladesh. His research interests include Film, Media, Communication and Cultural Studies, Media Anthropology, Business Anthropology, Advertising Research, Material Culture, Globalization, Consumer Culture, Visual Culture, South Asian Media and Cultural Politics.