Cultures of Popularity: Understanding Popular Culture in India
Popular culture has been a rising area of interest in India, with dedicated departments of Game Studies, Media Studies, Visual arts and culture and many more. In the contemporary context, where the world has been miniaturised into the palm of our hands, with information available at the tip of our fingers, it becomes more important to question how we can include popular culture into the larger domain of academia, both in Humanities and in the Social Sciences. The Popular Culture Association, established in the USA in 1971, has taken the study and research in this domain to new heights. This issue wishes to contextualise popular culture in India, using instances like Anthony Russo visit to Mumbai before the release of Avengers: Endgame (2019), the popularisation of Comic-cons in Mumbai, Bangalore and nerd meets in Kolkata, New Delhi, and many more cities to understand the possibilities of Indian popular culture in the future. This issue would look to answer the following questions: How is international Popular Culture accepted in India? Does India have a Popular Culture of its own? Can Popular Culture be Indianised? What are its fundamental features?
The words ‘Popular’ and ‘Culture’ have several connotations that reside primarily in the domain of interdisciplinary studies. Therefore, the possibilities and range of this issue would not be bound by subjects, themes or strands, but instead explore the future of popular culture in India, with a heterogeneous mix of hindsight and foresight.
The themes may be but are not limited to the following:
- What is Popular Culture?
- Popular Culture in India
- Reception of Popular Culture
- Popular Culture as a part of Higher education in Humanities/Social Sciences
- International Popular Culture and its reception in India
- Cinematic and entertainment universes.
- Popular Culture as an Intersectionality
- Fundamental characteristics of Popular Culture
- The relationship between Literature and Popular Culture.
Guidelines
We solicit abstracts of about 300-500 words within 15 September 2022. Upon selection, the contributors will be intimated by 30 September 2022. The name of the contributor along with a bio-note of about 100 words should be submitted as a separate document. We expect the full papers on or before 1 December 2022
Submissions (and/or enquiries) are to be made to the guest editor of this issue, Aritra Basu, at basuaritra16@gmail.com with a copy to jclaindia@gmail.com