Lexington Books
Pages: 268
•
Trim: 6⅜ x 9
978-1-66690-133-7 • Hardback • July 2022 • $111.00 • (£85.00)
978-1-66690-134-4 • eBook • July 2022 • $45.00 • (£35.00)
Dhananjay Rai teaches political theory, political thought, and education at the Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, India.
Introduction: Opening the Issues
Chapter 1: Constituting Social Language: Dalits in Material and Social Spheres
Chapter 2: The Public Sphere and Social Language
Chapter 3: In Search of a Perspective: Cinema and Dalit Representation
Chapter 4: Contested Representation: Sujata, Sholay and Swades
Chapter 5: Conclusion
Well-researched, theoretically grounded and politically committed, this is a pioneering study of Dalits and Hindi cinema, examined through the perspectives of social language and representation. It needs to be read, and I hope it leads to more studies of Dalits in Indian cinema.
— Tabish Khair, Aarhus University
Contested Representation is a brilliant exposition of the social language of Hindi cinema focusing on the ‘absence’ and ‘presence’ of Dalits in cinematic constructions. Rai argues persuasively that cinematic representations replicate the social and material power imbricated in caste hierarchies, yet the narratives are heterogenous, and the representational field is inflected by powerful Dalit resistance against domination.
— Anupama Roy, Jawaharlal Nehru University