South and Southeast Asian Languages and Societies Commons^™

Monstrous Girls And Celestial Lovers: Fantasy, Fear, And Female Adolescence In The Malayalam Films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty And Njan Gandharvan, Helena Reddington

Journal of Religion & Film

The Malayalam films Ennu Swantham Janakikutty and Njan Gandharvan reimagine figures from Kerala folklore, namely the Yakṣi and the Gandharva, within coming-of-age narratives. Both films position the characters of the Yakṣi and the Gandharva as fantastical figures who usher the young female protagonist into maturity. Rather than offering a pan-Hindu survey, this study focuses specifically on Kerala’s unique reimaginings of these celestial beings, where these figures carry distinct cultural meanings. This interpretive analysis is situated at the intersection of film studies, religious studies, as well as gender and sexuality studies, drawing particularly on feminist theory and critical approaches to vernacular …

Midwives, Sheila J. Nayar

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a film review of Midwives (2022), directed by Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing.

Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood, And The Nation, Kathryn C. Hardy

Journal of Religion & Film

This is a book review of William Elison, Christian Lee Novetzke, and Andy Rotman, Amar Akbar Anthony: Bollywood, Brotherhood, and the Nation (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2016).

Is Slumdog Millionaire A Retelling Of The Ramayana?, William L. Blizek, Michele M. Desmarais

Journal of Religion & Film

Is a banner with a picture of Rama and Sita on it and the word, “Ramayana,” the only link between the film Slumdog Millionaire and the great Hindu epic? In this paper we explore elements in the film that correspond to elements in theRamayana. There is no one-to-one correlation, and some relationships between the two are, in fact, mirror images. However, there are enough correlations and influences to suggest that the film might be considered a retelling of theRamayana. We also acknowledge though that there are also features of the film that some would …

Woman Becomes Goddess In Bollywood: Justice, Violence, And The Feminine In Popular Hindi Film, Kathleen M. Erndl

Journal of Religion & Film

What happens “when a woman becomes Chandika?” This essay contributes to an on-going discussion of the theme of “avenging women” in popular Indian cinema, with particular focus on the transformation of a woman into a fierce Goddess who avenges oppression and re-establishes justice. Analysis of the story line and selected song sequences from the Hindi language film Anjaam (“Outcome,” 1994) in light of themes from the Hindu Sanskrit text, the Devi-Mahatmya (“Greatness of the Goddess,” 5thc. C.E.) shows how traditional religious images and values are adapted and transformed in a modern context.

Global Diffusion Of The Internet - I: India: Is The Elephant Learning To Dance?, Peter Wolcott, Seymour E. Goodman

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

With his proclamation in 1998 that "IT is India's tomorrow", Prime Minister Vajpayee captured a vision of a 21st century India substantially different from that of the previous century, with its high levels of poverty, bloated bureaucracies, and protectionist policies. He envisioned the new India as a major IT power, fully integrated with the global economy, bringing about substantial domestic and international benefit. The Internet is a key to this vision, both as an enabler of technology-based change, and as an indicator of the vision's fulfillment.

Using an analytic framework developed by the authors and others, this study documents the …

The Internet In India And China, Larry Press, William Foster, Peter Wolcott, William Mchenry

Information Systems and Quantitative Analysis Faculty Publications

This article compares the diffusion of the Internet in China and India. Using a six–dimension framework for characterizing the state of the Internet in a nation, we observe that, while both nations have made significant progress since our last comparison (in 1999), China enjoys a substantial lead over India.

We also examine determinants of Internet diffusion. We find that the Chinese Internet has benefited from economic and trade reform begun in the late 1980s, a strong government commitment to the Internet, complementary human and capital resources, etc. The two nations have very different governments and policies, leading to differing approaches …