Two-day Conference on Indian Cinema and the City

Two-day Conference on Indian Cinema and the City 

3
–
4
November
2011


Organized 
By 
Chao
 Center
 for
 Asian
 Studies,
 Rice
 University


Cinema Space
 proposes
 to
 bring
 together
 scholars
 working
 on
 Indian
 cinema
 in
 an
 attempt
 to
 refocus structuring
 of
 the
 cinematic
 city
 will
 be
 the
 organizing
 thread
 of
 the
 conference.
 The
 city
 here
 is
 understood
 as
 a
 place holder
 for
 bringing
 together
 and
 delineating
 concerns
 of
 aesthetics,
 technology,
 modernity
and
development.



In
 the
 last
 decade,
 with
 the
 emergence
 of
 a
 globalized
 cultural
 industry
 that
 has
 been
 termed
 Bollywood’, 
a 
segment
 of 
Indian 
cinema 
has 
been
 receiving 
much 
attention
 in
Western
 academia 
both
 in such
 as
 song‐dance
 sequences
 and
 complex
 plot
 lines
 that
 were
 seen
 as
 hindrances
 to
 the
 appeal
 of
 Indian focus
 on
 this
 cultural
 value
 of
 ‘Bollywood’
 and
 its
 critique
 based
 on
 the
 argument
 of
 multiplicity
 of
 cinemas
 in
 India
 (or
 regional
 cinemas
 as
 they
 are
 called)
 continues
 to
 read
 aesthetics
 as
 cultural
 difference.
This
 takes 
attention 
away 
from 
cinema’s 
specificity 
as 
a
 techno‐aesthetic,
 which 
has
 salience
 across 
regional/national
 particularities.
 This 
move 
away 
from
particularities
 cannot 
be
‘post‐’
or
‘pre‐’,
 but
 is 
grounded 
on 
the
 national
 itself,
 hence 
the 
focus 
in 
this
conference
 on 
one 
national 
cinema.



 The
 conference
 attempts
 to
 initiate
 new
 conversations
 between
 papers
 that
 address
 the
 aesthetics 
and 
narrative 
forms 
of
 Indian
 cinema
 from 
different 
standpoints.
The
 different 
axes 
around
 which
 city 
space 
is 
organized
 in 
India n
cinema 
within,
without 
and
 at 
the
edges of 
the 
diegetic 
frame
 will
 be
 of
 interest.
 It
 proposes
 to
 think
 through
 the
 production
 of
 space
 in
 Indian
 cinema
 as
 linked
 to
 cinematic
 and
 other 
art 
practices
 in
 other
 parts 
of 
the 
world 
with
 which 
it 
ha s
been 
in
constant 
contact.


These from 
its 
inception.
The 
imagining
 of 
the 
cinematic 
city 
is 
a
significant 
thematic
 that
 will 
allow 
us
 to
 think
 through
 the
 structuring
 of
 space
 in
 Indian
 cinema
 outside
 culturalist
 assumptions,
 and
 to
 help
 us
 understand
 its
 aesthetic
 practice
 as
 historical
 and
 internationalist
 at
 the
 same
 time.
 For
 analytic
 purposes,
 the
 conference
 would
 propose
 to
 bracket
 off
 the
 understanding
 of
 cinema
 as
 a
 space
 of
 representation
 to
 focus
 on
 the
 aesthetic
 concerns
 governing
 it.
 Rather
 than
 cinema
 being
 a
 space
 through
 which
 one
 finds
 traces
 of
 real
 cities,
 the
 conference
 attempts
 to
 think
 of
 space
 of
 the
 city
 in
 cinema
 as 
a
frame 
of 
intelligibility.



The 
questions 
that 
the 
conference 
will 
address
 include,
 but
 are 
not
 limited
 to:


The 
aesthetic 
of 
cinematic
 city


City, 
modernity 
and 
the 
film 
frame


Internationalisms
 and
 the
 cinematic
 city


Realism,
 melodrama 
and 
the city


Trajectories
 of
 film
 aesthetics
 beyond
 the 
nation



Film 

State 
formations, 
film
 policy



Prof.
Moinak
 Biswas ,
Department
 of
 Film 
Studies, 
Jadhavpur 
University,
 Kolkata
 (India)
 will 
give 
the


Abstracts
 of
 not
 more
 than
 500
 words
 along
 with
 a
 short
 bio‐note
 should
 be
 sent
 to
 Ratheesh
 Radhakrishnan
 at
 rr16 AT rice DOT edu
 latest
 by
 April
 10,
 2011.
 Emails
 should
 have
 “film
 conference”
 as
 its
 subject
line. 
Acceptance 
notifications 
will 
be 
sent 
by
 April 
25,
 2011.
The 
Chao 
Center 
will 
be 
happy 
to
 host
 the
 selected
 scholars
 in
 Houston
 for
 the
 duration
 of
 the
 conference,
 but
 will
 be
 unable
 to
 cover


Selected 
workshop 
proceedings 
will 
be 
submitted 
for
 publication
 consideration 
as 
a 
special 
journal
 issue

Inclusion
 in
 the
 proposed
 special
 number
is
 subject
 to
 a
 provisional
 review
 process;
 acceptance
 and
publication

For 
future
 updates 
on 
the 
conference:
http://chaocenter.rice.edu/Content.aspx?id=650


Ratheesh 
Radhakrishnan


Post doctoral 
Fellow



Rice

Houston,
TX
77005
USA


rr16@rice.edu


http://asia.rice.edu