Representations of Indian Diasporic Identity in "Bollywood/Hollywood" and "American Desi" E-Book
Susanne Opel
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- Herausgeber: GRIN Verlag
- Sprache: Englisch
Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject American Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Rostock (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), course: HS Representations of Diasporic Identities in Film and Film Music: The Example of India, language: English, abstract: This paper is trying to “locate the East and the West in the same person”, that is, in the protagonists of two recent films: American Desi and Bollywood/Hollywood. Both were directed by NRIs (Non-Resident Indians) and are set within the Indian Diaspora of North America. Bollywood/Hollywood is a romantic comedy/parody set in Toronto, Canada, while American Desi is a college comedy set among the Indian students of a typical American college. Both films deal comically with the difficulties that arise from living in two worlds, adapting to two different sets of values and the question of identity. First, this paper is going to lay the groundwork by defining what is meant by diasporic identity, supplying some background information on the Indian communities of Canada and the USA and giving a short synopsis for both of the films. The next chapter discusses how certain themes of Indianness, e.g. family, religion and pop culture, are depicted in the films. Then, the – assumed – diasporic identities of the main protagonists are described. Finally, the conclusion will not only summarize the findings, but also try to find parallels between the films and their characters, as well as differences that might be connected with one stemming from Canada and one from the USA.
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Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2007
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I. Introduction
In the past decades, it seems that the impact of Indian lifestyle on our everyday life has grown immensely - from East German university studies who spent hours with swapping and copying Indian cookbooks and West German housewives engaging in yoga classes to today’s youths dancing to Bhangra music and internet communities dedicated to the discussion of the latest Bollywood films and Shah Rukh Khan’s hairstyle. India is “in”, and this is true not only for Germany, but also for other Western countries, like the UK, the USA and Canada. In those countries, more so than in Germany, the spreading of Indian culture is partly due to the presence of so many people of Indian origin. Many of the bigger cities in the Western hemisphere feature neighbourhoods that with their shops, markets, restaurants and people remind you more of India than of the country you are actually in. Little India in Toronto, Canada, or the East End in London, England, are where Indians immigrating to those countries move to. Or that is what is generally believed. In fact, however, tastes and identities among Indians are as varied as with every other ethnicity. Some choose to try and live a traditional Indian life and participate actively in Indian communities; others shop for some of the ingredients - both culinary and culturally - which they like from back home to integrate them in their otherwise westernized lives. And there are also some who do not feel the need to connect with their old life at all and instead aspire to blend in with the crowd in their new home country completely. Diasporic identities are varied, because on the one hand,
[e]ven within settled liberal democracies, the old assumption hat immigrants would identify with their adopted country in terms of political loyalty, culture and language can no longer be taken for granted[,]1
while on the other hand, many emigrants are desperately trying to take their old life in their home country with them. However, these are just the two ends of the scale:
1Cohen, Robin: Global Diasporas. An Introduction. London: Routledge, 1997., p. x
