introduction to culture studies final

7/25/2019 Introduction to Culture Studies Final

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Culturally Elitist?


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What about PopularCulture?


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An Introduction to CulturalStudies


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Lonely Planet An Excerpt onCulture ( Exoticization)

Swaying palms, white sands and sparklingwaters: the three essential elements that

attract 2 million visitors annually to Goasbalmy shores are plentiful in this tiny,glorious slice of India hugging the countryswestern coastline and bounded by theArabian Sea

!iscover Goa with a guide that you can trust"#perience the best beaches, architecture,

shops, restaurants, nightlife and activitiesthat the state has to o$er %ur e#pert authorswill guide you to must&see sights ande#periences, give you loads of reliablepractical information and help you get thebest possible value for money Go armed withall the information you need without beingbogged down by unnecessary details


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Etyolo!y Word"ri!ins


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Contextualization o#Culture

'ulture seen as the oppositeof (ature )binaries*

'ulture + idea of cultivation&microbiology and biology

"g !iagnostic testsavailable for in-uen.a

include viral culture/0

'ulture and 'ivili.ation +'ulture + become1grow inmanners1 reference usuallyto an individual

Industrial evolution

3echani.ation vstradition

3echanical vs'ultural

'raftsmanship vs3ass production)'hinese*

'ulture + Aesthetics


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What culture eans in thepresent context

'ulture is the mode of generatingmeanings and ideas

3eanings are often governed bypower relations"lite culture controls meanings

because it controls the terms of thedebate

(on&elite views of life and art arere4ected as stupid and useless


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Anatoy o# a $liberal%& Indian liberals do not o'ersolutions they use the ter as a class arer

In discussions of Indian politics on social media, two distinct

camps make the most noise. One of them is the right-wing

camp. These people call themselves nationalists. As a

derogatory term, this camp is also referred to as hakts,

sanghis and chaddiwallahs in reference to their love for!induism and support for "#$, %odi and &'' (which uses

outdated and unfashionale shorts in its uniform).

The people giving these laels elong to the other camp. Theyhave *uite an elegant term to descrie themselves + lierals.

That sounds like a unch of intellectuals sipping tea and gently

persuading each other with deeply intellectual arguments.

ationalists, on the other hand, sound like frenied activists

eating their chests on the streets.


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Chetan *ha!at+

However, let me tell you what those who call themselves liberals truly are. Our lovely liberalsusually have no clue on what India should actually be like, whether on matters of economic

policy or of secularism. They never have solutions, so it is hard to put a finger on what they

truly represent.

However, they eist, and operate in a predictable, herd!like manner despite claiming to be

freethinking intellectuals. "o, who are they#

These liberals actually are people who grew up with a certain amount of privilege compared

to their peers. This class privilege comes not only in terms of money but also the level of

$nglish medium education they received and the world culture.

%emember the kid in school who brought hotdogs in his tiffin when you didnt even knowwhat a hotdog was# %emember the boy in class who had been to &isneyland, while you were

waiting for your net birthday to go to 'ppu (har )if you were in &elhi, of course*# These kids

grew up and had a huge advantage over other Indians.


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Chetan *ha!at+

5hey had better connections, spoke superior "nglish and could blend inwell with the upper classes because of their cultural e#posure 5o beabove the ri$&ra$ allowed them the best 4obs and more importantly, ahigher stature in society 5hese privileged kids could identify otherprivileged kids, and liked to stay in each others company

Since di$erentiating themselves was important, they began to look downon almost all things liked by non&privileged Indians 6ernacularlanguages, for instance, were considered a sign of lower class Someone

speaking "nglish with a local Gu4arati or 7ihari accent was mocked )whilesomeone who spoke "nglish with an Italian or 8rench accent was seen ase#otic and romantic*e they were e#posed to 9induism was seen as abackward religion followed by the lower classes Since Indians have aclass system ingrained into them anyway, the privileged kids createdtheir own class and happily lived in that bubble


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Chetan *ha!at+

Alas, over time India progressed economically 5alent came into demand andprivilege mattered less As merit and talent earned 4obs more people hadmoney, even though they perhaps lacked the global cultural e#posure theprivileged kids had received

Also, the talented kids felt no need to belittle the local culture, language or

religion 5his created a relatively large class of proud nationalists + theeconomic growth seeking generation of Indians who were perhaps not sowell e#posed to world culture

5he privileged kids felt insecure 5hey ganged up as one and re&brandedthemselves as liberals 'alling themselves secular, inclusive, tolerant andconveniently forgetting how class conscious they are, they claimed to saveIndia from the 9indu invasion uick to attack any 9indu fundamentalisttrespass in the name of secularism, these liberals would not be foundattacking Islamic fundamentalists the same way

5hey claimed to be modern and fair, but one would rarely ;nd themspeaking out against Islamic diktats that militate against gender e


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Chetan *ha!at+

There is a reason why lierals are derogatorily referred to as pseudo-secular, pseudo-intellectual and pseudo-lieral. or their agenda is not to e lieral. Their agenda is to

look down on the classes that dont have the gloal culture advantage. If, for instance, %odi and Amit 'hah had gone to /oon 'chool, or studied in college

aroad, or at least spoke 0nglish with a refined world accent, the lierals would have

een kinder to them.

The sad part is we do need, *uite adly, a class of real lierals and intellectuals in ourcountry. 1e need people who have new ideas and solutions as well as a desire to e

truly inclusive for all Indians. !ating %odi is not going to solve anything. either will

looking down on the less privileged and their desires and aspirations. Instead, come up

with ways in which Indian society can truly change. If you want to e truly lieral and intellectual, then stop pointing fingers and making it a

2ongress versus "#$ game. igure out solutions we need to implement as one society

+ e it a common civil code that supersedes any religion, a common agenda foreconomic reform, 0nglish for all or improving educational facilities for everyone.

/ont depend on the politicians to do it all, for they have to defend their 3os and hence

vote anks first. If lierals and intellectuals in civil society can uild consensus for

reform, politicians will also act on it. If you are planning to ecome a lieral, e solution-

oriented, truly open-minded and anti-elitist. 'ipping tea from fine china cups is optional

(and totally fine, of course).


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,esponse to *ha!at+

!ear 3r 'hetan 7hagat,

8irst of all, thank you very much for lightening our mood by writingthis e#tremely funny blog about Indian liberals >e all had a goodlaugh Allow me to clean your spectacles and help you see things

clearly ? @ou say our lovely liberals have no clue on what India should be

like =et me break this to you gently, I am not lovely And I am aliberal !eal with it

2 Bnlike you, I did not study in a prestigious institution like the II5>hile you probably spent your summer vacations preparing to get in,

I spent mine toiling in the ;elds of my village in the badlands ofwestern BC I am a liberal !eal with it

D I am a member of the %7' and have spent my entire childhood in aone&room house with four other family members 3y teenage yearswere spent at a place where an ?E&hour daily power cut was thenorm 5here goes your privilege and class argument for a toss I am a

liberal !eal with it


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,esponse to *ha!at+

F I passed out of a government school and I dont speak "nglish the wayyou do, let alone in a 8rench or Italian accent I speak "nglish in awestern BC accent I am vernacular I am a liberal !eal with it

H I did not know what a hot dog is, even during college @ou surely went

to schools where kids brought hot dogs for lunch I am a liberal !eal withit

Some of my schoolmates went on to sell boiled eggs on carts and steelutensils I dont e#actly have the privilege of an old boys network toleverage, if you know what I mean I am a liberal !eal with it

J 8orget visiting !isneyland, my family could not even a$ord Appu Ghar@ou, it appears, did manage to take a ride I am a liberal !eal with it

E (o, I was not e#posed to world culture 5he only culture I had accessto was patriarchal, and casteist I am a liberal !eal with it


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,esponse to *ha!at+

F I passed out of a government school and I dont speak "nglish the way you do, let alone in a 8rench orItalian accent I speak "nglish in a western BC accent I am vernacular I am a liberal !eal with it

H I did not know what a hot dog is, even during college @ou surely went to schools where kids brought hotdogs for lunch I am a liberal !eal with it

Some of my schoolmates went on to sell boiled eggs on carts and steel utensils I dont e#actly have the

privilege of an old boys network to leverage, if you know what I mean I am a liberal !eal with it

J 8orget visiting !isneyland, my family could not even a$ord Appu Ghar @ou, it appears, did manage to takea ride I am a liberal !eal with it

E (o, I was not e#posed to world culture 5he only culture I had access to was patriarchal, and casteist Iam a liberal !eal with it

K As a person with scienti;c temperament, I have contempt towards all forms of religious conservatism andthe politics born out of it I am a liberal !eal with it

?L Inspite of my modest background, I managed to become an I5 professional and got to work in di$erentcontinents 5his was possible because of the liberal India I grew up in, and the one lovely liberals are;ghting hard to preserve today

I am not an e#ception, there are many like me

@ou ask liberals for solutions Bnderstand the problem ;rst


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,epresentation Si!nsSybols and -etaphors


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,epresentation ./he0bi1uitous


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-odules in CultureStudies

Identity

'lass

Gender

ace

(ation


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In order to develop -uency in 'ultural Studies terminology,students will become familiar with the vocabulary of the ;eld of'ultural Studies, including its basic terminology: for instance,powerM agency, identity M sub4ectivity, 3ar#ism M ideology,modernity M post&modernity, hegemony M resistance, theory Mpra#is, colonialism M post&colonialism, myth1symbol M semiotics

Students will discover the contours of 'ultural Studies as a ;eld ofin

introduction to culture studies final

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