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Lecturer(s)
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Libicher Miroslav, Mgr. Ph.D.
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Course content
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1) Introductory Session / Introduction to the Course 2) Cinema and Society in India I 3) Cinema and Society in India II 4) Cinema and Society in India III 5) Cinema and Society in India IV 6) "Our Films, Their Films": Poetological Specifics of Indian Cinema 7) Terminator in Love: Genre Dynamics and Rasa Theory 8) Why Indians Dance Around Trees: Meaning and Function of Musical Sequences 9) From the Indian Chaplin to the Indian Rambo: Transcultural Borrowings and Remake Culture 10) Orientalism? Occidentalism? Representation of Other Cultures in Indian Cinema 11) Gods in Front of and Behind the Camera: Indian Cinema and Religion 12) From Composite Culture to the Hindu Nation: Indian Cinema and Minorities 13) (Vi)desi Girls, (Vi)desi Boys: Indian Cinema and Gender Issues
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Lecture, Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Work with Text (with Book, Textbook)
- Homework for Teaching
- 6 hours per semester
- Preparation for the Course Credit
- 30 hours per semester
- Preparation for the Exam
- 3 hours per semester
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Learning outcomes
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The objective of the course is to introduce students at an academic level to the phenomenon of Indian popular cinema, with a particular focus on its Hindi-language segment, commonly referred to as Bollywood. The first third of the seminar will adopt a diachronic perspective to trace the evolution of Hindi-language cinema in relation to social, cultural, economic, and political transformations in India. The remaining sessions will examine, from a synchronic perspective, the key phenomena most frequently studied within the context of Indian popular film. For each session, students will be provided with recommended literature and specific film assignments; however, the seminar will primarily rely on direct instruction (lectures and screenings of film excerpts).
Upon completing the course, students will gain a comprehensive overview of the history and specific characteristics of Hindi popular cinema within a broader cultural and political context. They will understand how Indian film production draws upon local forms of traditional culture while simultaneously processing the influences of contemporary Western popular culture, such as Hollywood. Furthermore, students will gain insight into its poetic strategies and the mechanisms through which it engages both domestic and international audiences.
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Prerequisites
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The course is open to all students interested in the subject. However, enrolled students are expected to possess a foundational knowledge of popular culture studies and, ideally, basic concepts associated with film studies (prospective students lacking this background are advised to consult pages 13-55 of Radomír D. Kokeš's Rozbor filmu [Film Analysis], Brno: Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, 2015). Introductory publications on the socio-cultural context of India are also recommended (e.g., Jan Filipský's Indie [India], Prague: Libri, 2003). The instruction will be primarily tailored to Master's level students. While designed as a follow-up to the course Non-Western Film Culture, prior completion of that course is not a prerequisite.
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Oral exam, Student performance, Dialog
The course concludes with a credit and a colloquium. To obtain the credit, regular attendance is required (a maximum of two absences is permitted), along with the submission of a seminar paper (5-10 standard pages in length) on a topic pre-consulted with the instructor. The final colloquium will take the form of a critical discussion of the seminar paper within the context of the topics covered in the course.
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Recommended literature
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Ira Bhaskar, Richard Allen. (2009). Islamicate Cultures of Bombay Cinema. New Delhi.
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Madhava M. Prasad. (1998). Ideology of the Hindi film: A Historical Construction. New York.
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Neelam Sidhar Wright. (2015). Bollywood and Postmodernism: Popular Indian cinema in the 21st Century. Edinburgh.
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Patrick Colm Hogan. (2008). Understanding Indian Movies: Culture, Cognition, and Cinematic Imagination. Austin.
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Priya Joshi. (2015). Bollywood's India: A Public Fantasy. New York.
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Rachel Dwyer. (2006). Filming the Gods: Religion and Indian cinema. New York.
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Vijay Mishra. (2002). Bollywood Cinema: Temples of Desire. New York.
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