1996/01/01 by Radha Subramanyam · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #South Asian Cinema and Culture #Cinema and Media Studies #South Asian Studies and Conflicts #Subaltern #Praxis #Caste #Class (philosophy) #Sociology #Gender studies #Epistemology #Philosophy #Political science #Linguistics #Law
paper · doi:10.2307/1225764
openalex publication_date 1996/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Rudaali elaborates on the ambivalences that arise in representing the gendered subaltern, particularly the difficulty of balancing feminist consciousness with the popular appeal that is characteristic of many Indian women's feature films. This essay examines Third World feminism from a subaltern perspective, particularly from the cinematically constructed perspective of a low-caste Indian woman who simultaneously internalizes, resists, and subverts the hegemonic discourses of her world. It analyzes Rudaali (The crier, 1992), a film by Kalpana Lajmi, one of a handful of Indian women filmmakers. The study looks at the intersection of traditional modes of performance with class and caste structures in the Indian context as well as with feminist issues; in particular, it elaborates on the ambivalences that arise in representing the gendered subaltern. I argue that the representation of the protagonist's attitudes toward the structures that oppress her as ambivalent has verisimilitude yet is problematic. Further, the representation of a gendered subaltern by a text that only has the tools of the dominant structure and is attempting to mediate feminist consciousness and realism with popular appeal leads to a necessary ambivalence in narrative and subject construction. I have argued elsewhere that such an ambivalence is characteristic, perhaps inevitable, in almost all Indian women's feature films.'