Cultural Studies - Page 6

The Cultural Expressions and Representation of National Identity- A Study of the Indian Singing Reality Television Show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”

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307 views

Taranjeet Kaur Chawla1 Shiv Shankar Sharma2 Rayaz Hassan3

1Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan-India. ORCID id: 0000-0002-5336-1964. Email id: ms.kaur011@gmail.com

2Ph.D. Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan-India. Email id: shiv.sharma6969@gmail.com   

3Associate Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Manipal University Jaipur, Rajasthan-India. Email id: rayaz.hassan@jaipur.manipal.edu              

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ Volume 13, Number 1, 2021 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.40

The Cultural Expressions and Representation of National Identity- A Study of the Indian Singing Reality Television Show “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa”

Abstract

This paper aims to understand the narrative structure of Indian singing reality television show to identify the representation of national identity. By focusing on the “Sa Re Ga Ma Pa” show format, this paper has followed the work of Vladimir Propp to examine the cultural expressions with the sequential development of the narrative plot. The convergent parallel mixed method has been using to collect quantitative and qualitative data. While using the Likert scale, the reliability of the questionnaire has been calculated and reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for internal consistency reliability. The quantitative data has gathered from 205 respondents and 99 episodes aired from 2017 to 2019 have analysed in qualitative data, which is followed by data analysis through IBM SPSS Statistics.  By analysing the quantitative and qualitative data this paper finds that the cultural expressions reveal the notion of national identity through the representation of ‘ordinary’ people and emphasis on performances by focusing on the structured format of Indian reality television. The paper indicates the ways where the viewers of the society can connect with cultural expressions through the genre of reality television.

Keywords: Cultural expressions, Indian reality television, Narrative analysis, National identity, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa, Vladimir Propp.

Linguocultural Anatomical Code: Concept of Sacredness

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273 views

Moldir A. Alshynbaeva1, Shara Mazhitayeva2, Bektursyn Kaliyev3,  Nurgul Nygmetova4, Gulbaram S. Khamzina5

1 Graduate Student, Buketov Karaganda University, Kazakhstan. E-mail: a_moon86@mail.ru

2Doctor in Philology, Professor, Buketov Karaganda University, Kazakhstan. Orcid: 0000-0002-0557-5423. E-mail: s_mazhit@mail.ru. 

3Candidate of Philology, Buketov Karaganda University, Kazakhstan. E-mail: Kaliev-69@mail.ru

4Candidate of Philology, Karaganda State Technical University, Kazakhstan. Orcid: 0000-0002-6421-8231. E-mail: nurgul_tursynovna@mai.ru  

5PhD, M.Kozybaev North Kazakhstan State University, Kazakhstan. Orcid: 0000-0002-7329-6258. E-mail: Gulzada_76@mail.ru 

 Volume 13, Number 1, 2021 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.31

Linguocultural Anatomical Code: Concept of Sacredness

Abstract

The article examines the Kazakh people’s linguocultural anatomical code, which has developed due to nomadic culture over the centuries and reflected their beliefs, rituals, rites, and traditions. The linguocultural code is viewed as a secondary modeling semiotic system, or as a connotative semiotics. Certain anatomical concepts, i.e. body parts, bones, and internal organs serve as the cultural code’s elements. Culturally conditioned sacral significance, tracing to pagan magic, myths, and legends, is revealed in their lexical and phraseological representations in the connotative meaning. Thus, the article analyzes such concepts as 12 (on eki) múshe, jauyryn, ókpe.  12 (on eki) múshe serves as the basic concept of the Kazakh anatomical code, defining views on human and animals’ anatomy, the role and functions of certain anatomical concepts in spiritual, religious, and ritual-rite culture. A high degree of sacredness of the named concepts, depending on the level of linguistic unit total number and cultural sacred meaning units, was identified as well. Thus, the purpose of our article is to identify the specifics of the Kazakh anatomical linguocultural code by analyzing certain sacred concepts, verbalized in the names of skeleton, bones, some inner organs, as well as to define the degree of their sacredness, preserved in the modern Kazakh language. We have developed the methodology for studying these concepts, based on the secondary semiotic sign analysis, i.e. lexical and phraseological verbal units and their semantics: denotative and connotative, and defined certain concepts’ sacredness degree.

Keywords: concept sacredness, a symbolic animal, anatomical linguocultural code

Aesthetics of Excess: The Singing and Dancing of Pey in the Folktales from Karisial Kadu

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290 views

Swathi Sudhakaran1 & Milind Brahme2

1Ph.D. candidate, Humanities and Social Sciences Department, IIT Madras. ORCID id: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9599-0881. Email id: ammusswathi@gmail.com

2Associate Professor, Humanities and Social Sciences department, IIT Madras

ORCHID id: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5427-4611. Email id: brahme@iitm.ac.in

 Volume 13, Number 1, 2021 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.26

Aesthetics of Excess: The Singing and Dancing of Pey in the Folktales from Ka?isial Kadu

Abstract

The article explores the singing and dancing of pey, a dual spirit (benevolent and malevolent) found in the folktales from Ka?isial K?du (the area around Tuticorin district in southern Tamil Nadu, India) as embodying aesthetics of excess. The tales have been collected by Ki. Rajanarayanan in Na?upu?a Katai Kalañiya? (repository of folktales). Although a dual spirit, pey belongs to the sacred in Ka?isial K?du. The divine world of Ka?isial K?du populated by folk deities conceptualizes sacred differently from the scriptural religion and its pantheon of pan-Indian deities. This divide in the divine world becomes apparent in an aesthetic that characterizes the singing and dancing of the pey in these stories. As a response to and a manifestation of an excess it disturbs composure and does not fit into the controlled and transcendental aesthetics of N??ya??stra. The paper studies this deviant aesthetics associated with the singing and dancing of pey and its function in Ka?isial K?du through the lens of the Nietzchean category of the Dionysian.

Keywords: aesthetics, aesthetics of excess, folk deities, dionysian, Ka?isial K?du

Post-Enlightenment Exploration and the Aesthetic of Information: Curious with a Purpose

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199 views

Diganta Bhattacharya

Assistant Professor, Department of English, Sundarvan Mahavidyalaya, West Bengal & Research Scholar, Presidency University. Email: diganta.bhat@gmail.com

 Volume 13, Number 1, 2021 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.16

  Post-Enlightenment Exploration and the Aesthetic of Information: Curious with a Purpose

Abstract:

Exploration accounts written during the post-Enlightenment era of European expansion relied upon the agency of a romanticized narrator who could inspire a dedicated readership since he strategically projected the ‘performance’ of exploration as necessarily hazardous and hence, awe-inspiring. The concomitant element of romance was further emphasized in such texts since the precarious and vulnerable position of the explorer-narrator functioned as a much-needed foil to the sort of objectivist-detached discourse of functional intelligence that exploration narratives were increasingly expected to generate. The elaborate, methodical, organized and professional performance of overseas exploration needs to be understood as a targeted activity that utilized specific narratorial devices with an aim to make use of the widespread curiosity about the New World.  This essay seeks to address the post-Enlightenment emergence of an ‘aesthetic of information’ along with its discursive trappings and epistemological frameworks which were ‘realized’ within a subculture of geographical exploration. ‘Knowledge’ aspired to be defined by empirical rigour, but the process of accessing and documenting it could scarcely avoid subjective variables.

Keywords: Enlightenment, Exploration, Knowledge, Information, Romantic, Aesthetic, Science, Functional, Empirical, Baconian, Curiosity

Reconstruction of the Costume Elements of the Shilikty “Golden Man”

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230 views

Abdesh Toleubayev1, Rinat Zhumatayev2 & Samat Shakenov3

1,2,3Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Republic of Kazakhstan.

Correspondence: zhumatayevr@gmail.com

 Volume 12, Number 6, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n6.21

 Abstract

The article contains the reconstruction of the Shilikty “Golden Man” clothing based on multidisciplinary studies of the archeological material from the royal kurgan “Baigetobe” in the Tarbagatai foothills. The authors describe in detail the reconstruction of the anthropological appearance and the results of studying organic samples from the burial complex, as well as explain the final shape of royal attire and justify the details and components of the reconstructed costume. The methodological basis of the study is the systemic approach that allows one to view the categories of the Saka royal clothing as profound systems. Within the approach, the methodology and the recreation of ancient royal clothing rely on a wide range of analogies from Eurasian Saka-Scythian monuments and ethnographic materials. Based on these monuments and materials, the authors have established that certain elements in the clothing of early nomads of Kazakhstan have more in common with the clothing of neighboring tribes of Asian steppes in the early Iron Age. This is evident in the cut, detailing and the décor of clothing recovered from such monuments as Pazyryk, Katanda, Tuyekta and Akalakha. The methodological challenge to study clothing based on archeological data is primarily related to the condition of the source. The authors briefly characterize the organic probes from the kurgan burial chamber that have been studied using regular and digital microscopes and conclude that the clothing of the Shilikty Man was colorful. Within the framework of multidisciplinary research, the authors have conducted an anthropological study of the skeletal remains and the sculptural reconstruction of the person from the Baigetobe kurgan. Anthropologically, this person belongs to the mixed Caucasoid and Mongoloid type with prevalent Caucasoid elements, which agrees with the anthropological features of the ancient population of Central Asia in the early Iron Age. Therefore, gold jewelry, the quality of fabrics and the multilevel burial structure confirm the high profile of the Shilikty Golden Man. The conclusions and results can be used for the reconstruction of the composite image of the nomadic nobility in Central Asia in the early Saka period.

Keywords: Shilikty, Tarbagatai, reconstruction, Saka-Scythian world, clothing, Golden Man.

Costume as a Form of Visualization of Ethnicity: From Tradition to Modernity

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397 views

Daria Yurievna Ermilova

Russian State University of Tourism and Service. Email: id311@yandex.ru

 Volume 12, Number 6, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n6.20

Abstract

The article traces the transformation of visualization of a person’s ethnicity through costumes – from traditional to modern. The object of the study is to understand the costume as an informational and sign structure. The topic of the study is the visualization of ethnicity through costumes from a historical perspective. The study aims to identify the specific characteristics of visualization of ethnicity in traditional and modern costumes. The study hypothesis is that, unlike traditional costumes that demonstrated regional and national affiliation, modern “Western” clothing has mostly lost these functions. Although in some regions costumes are still relevant as a “living” tradition, national clothing is disappearing from everyday life. Ethnic style using regional and national traditions as a source of stylization does not present an indicator of a person’s nationality. Nevertheless, some examples of modern clothing visualizing ethnicity can be found. The functional and semiotic approaches to the analysis of costumes serve as the basis of the study. Since the late Middle Ages, the development of urban dress in Western Europe has been determined by fashion rather than tradition. In Russia, the process of an urban costume losing the function of visualization of ethnicity began with the reforms of Peter the Great and for peasants’ costumes, this process did not start until the middle of the 20th century. At the beginning of the 21st century, traditional costumes were mostly worn by ethnic minorities as a symbol of national identity and self-affirmation. Referring to others’ traditions as a source of fashion innovations led to the emergence of ethnic style. Ethnic style is characterized by a superficial attitude towards the source. Ethnodesign, on the other hand, follows the principle of deep and thoughtful care about the tradition which gains relevance due to the rise of glocalization manifesting in the intensification of regional differences. Although the proponents of ethnodesign insist on the ability of design to integrate traditional ethnic symbols into modern culture, the question is about the ability of modern people to understand the meanings contained in traditional forms remains. The present article identifies the cases of a costume serving the function of visualization of ethnicity in modern society.

Keywords: visualization, ethnicity, traditional costume, ethnodesign, modern costume, functions of a costume.

M.O. Auezov and Musical Art of Kazakhstan in the Coordinates of the Global World

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223 views

Omarova A.1, Kaztuganova A.2, Sultanova A.3, Tatkenova S.4 & Kdyrniyazova Z.5

1Candidate of art History, Leader Research Fellow the Department “Musicology”, M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art, Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan. Email: omarova.aliaya@gmail.com

2Candidate of art History, Head of the Department “Musicology”, M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art, Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan, Kazakhstan

3Master of arts, Junior researcher of the Department “Musicology”, M. Auezov Institute of Literature and Art, Ministry of Education and Science of Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan

4Musicology and Composition, Department of Musicology and Composition, Kazakh National conservatory named after Kurmangazy, Kazakhstan

5Master of arts, teacher of the Kazakh specialized musical boarding school for gifted children named after Akhmet Zhubanov

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s24n5

 Abstract

The article discusses the patterns of national musical art in scientific, critical, and artistic interpretation of the classic of Kazakh literature M.O. Auezov (1897-1961). In this regard, the following aspects have been consistently presented and commented: 1. Fragments from his works on literary studies and publications in magazines and newspapers which focus on the traditions and genres of the musical and poetic heritage of the Kazakhs, significant names and events of opera and theater practice, assessments that reveal the principles of personal perception and interpretation; 2. “musical” pages of literary works of different periods and, above all, the famous novel-epopee, aitys as one of the traditional types of folk theater creativity and the object of recreation in the works of M.O. Auezov-the playwright; 3. multi-genre opuses of composers of Kazakhstan, created as a result of the impact of the plots and texts or dedicated to his memory. The principles of interdisciplinary researches are involved, which enabled the identification of a new level of understanding of the chosen topic, which can be productive in view of practical implementation, subsequent reflection and development in methodological aspect, and active transfer in the educational environment. The obtained and formulated results are significant in the context of the currently obvious interest in the historical past, rich traditions which are typical for the folklore and national professional sphere, figures that are generally significant for the culture of the nation.

Keywords: leitmotif, opera, libretto, composer, playwright, theater, premiere, score, text.

Bacha Posh: A Study of The Micronarratives of Gender in Afghanistan

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Pauline Lalthlamuanpuii1 & Suchi2

1Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology Mizoram. Email: poehmar@gmail.com

2Assistant Professor, Research Scholar, National Institute of Technology Mizoram

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s9n2

 ABSTRACT

The blitzkrieg destabilization of Afghanistan by major world powers and factional groups in contemporary times has triggered major academic works on the country. One witnessed a surge in interest and curiosity about the socio-cultural, religious, political, and economic dynamics of the country. Often regarded as one of the most unsafe country for women in the world, this paper will focus on the concept of a bacha posh in Afghanistan. A bacha posh is a Dari word for a girl disguised as a boy. This paper attempts to examine the power structures that ‘created’ a bacha posh in Afghanistan. The idea of a bacha posh in Afghanistan is a “performativity”, shaped by dialogues that moves beyond the “normative” gender binaries of male and female. A bacha posh move beyond the grand totalizing narratives of gender binaries to create a space that marked by fluidity and freedom. Even though the identity of a bacha posh is a shared deceit, created to serve the needs of an androcentric society, one cannot ignore its subversive nature. A bacha posh subverts the dictums of patriarchy by allowing the girl- child to re-define her subalternity. What happens if the realization of her subalternity results, not in striving for acceptance in the dominant framework of knowledge from which she is excluded, but in the establishment of an alternative centre?

Keywords– bacha posh, resistance, subaltern, identity, woman, Afghanistan, empowerment, micro-narratives, performativity.

The Contemporary Dystopian Reality of Slavery and Modern Capitalism in Octavia Butler’s Parable Novels

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282 views

Cr Patricia Mary Hodge

Research Scholar, Department of English, NEHU. E-mail: patclhodge93@gmail.com, Orcid id: 0000-0002-3786-8060

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s6n5

 Abstract

Critical dystopia as an analytic category for historical enquiry explores contemporary reality and its specificities in time and space. It functions as anagnorisis or recognition of the dystopian realities in the present through its generic mode of familiarising the heightened dystopian elements of the text as possible evolutions of current oppressions. This paper suggests that this anagnorisis through comparison and extrapolation is limited and needs to consider how the text ironically reveals the absence of historical specificity through its comparison of the contemporary present and the imagined future. Instead, specificity is replaced with a linear historical trajectory where dystopia occurs cyclically in metamorphosed forms within a fixed, yet evolving power-structure. This projects the nature of the dystopia in the text part of an evolutionary process, not a product of its historically specific period. Through the interrogation of how the legally abolished system of slavery is historically shifted into the future hyper-capitalist market system in Octavia Butler’s Parable novels, this paper will reveal how the anagnorisis of the novels functions to locate dystopia as present and evolving in a historical trajectory of cyclical structural repetition. This familiarisation of the historical event of slavery in the novels posits the dystopian text’s anagnorisis as not simply the recognition of dystopian elements specifically in the present but broadens it to the recognition of the historical evolution of those same human atrocities that appear to ‘resurge’ in dystopia.

Keywords: Slavery, capitalism, dystopia, anagnorisis

Policing Immigration: A Study of Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander

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226 views

Aratrika Mandal

IIT Kharagpur, mandalaratrika@iitkgp.ac.in, ORCID id- 000-0003-0465-3642

 Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF

DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s5n1

Abstract

The present paper looks at the representation of inter-national mobility and immigrants in select works from Swedish author Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander series. Mankell’s works are set in Sweden,  a country where despite exceptionally inclusive foreign policies lies fault lines within its very social exceptionalism. This challenges the complete denouement that  is conventionally observed in the genre of detective fiction. Sweden’s geographical proximity with the Baltic countries makes its national boundaries porous, which enables the covert extremist factions to surface and function globally. Illegal human trafficking, followed by the absence of any restriction in compliance with the social welfare state allows one to blend in better, despite the rising anti-immigrant sentiments across the nation in the more recent years. This paper studies the underpinnings of geographical features in the constant run and chase, and how these boundaries are breached by the severity, rigidity, and interdependency of these morally fractured underground networks. Mankell’s Faceless Killers (1991) reveals nascent xenophobia provoked by the neo-Nazi remnants, which is supplemented by local projection of immigrants. These boundaries are further abused in The White Lioness (1993) which has Russian and African fugitives operating deeper networks of extremist groups that manifest an inexistent national security. The paper will reflect on the idea of an immigrant figure as potentially a victim, as a criminal. Finally, an engagement with the physical aspects of the represented urban spaces will facilitate a discussion on the (il)legality of immigration which punctures the welfare state now close to collapse.

Keywords: crime fiction, immigration, refugee, world literature, Swedish fiction

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