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Spring 2008
English 98/198
2 Unit(s)

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About the Course:

A more apt title to this course would be 'Indian Cinema and Political Violence.' We will be watching movies that would typically be labeled "Bollywood", although some are from the Tamil film industry and some push the limits of what defines a Bollywood film.  The films will focus on issues of terrorism and political violence, from the Kashmir conflict to the Bombay riots to India's own freedom struggle against the British.  Terrorism in India is a crucial issue, causing the Times of India to report “terror groups have left India with perhaps the highest number of civilian victims of terror (apart from war-torn countries like Iraq).” (“India loses maximum lives to terror except Iraq” 27 Aug 2007).   What happens when a serious and emotional issue is reevaluated through the medium of a Bollywood film, a medium which is seldom seen as serious by those outside of India?

Students are not expected to have any prior knowledge of Bollywood, Indian history or contemporary political issues in India.  We will discuss all of these, but using the films as a springboard to comment on them. 

We will be watching 10 to 12 films, so they will be a viewing in most classes. A warning: most of the movies we are watching will be three hours long, and they are subtitled.  That being said, this should be a fun class-despite the subject matter, most of these films are fun movies, and you're encouraged to bring dinner and friends to the screenings.  Since the films take up so much time there won’t be any required readings, and only one short final paper.

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