AAARCC Book Series: Screening Precarity

AAARCC Book Series

Screening Precarity: Hindi Cinema and Neoliberal Crisis in Twenty-First Century India

Refreshments provided. RSVP and reading the book prior to the events are not required to participate. If you need accommodation to participate in this event, please email [email protected]. The Book Talk with Author is co-sponsored by Purdue Graduate Student Government.

Book Discussion

Thursday, November 5, 2PM-3PM

AAARCC (915 5th St)

Learn about the history and theory of "precarity" from Chapter 1, including examples of how Bollywood films mediate the discussions of precarious public spheres in India.

Free books provided for first 5 individuals who RSVP and attend the book discussion! aaarcc.short.gy/screenrsvp​

This book is open access for Boilermakers and can be downloaded for free from: aaarcc.short.gy/precarity

Book Talk with Author

Thursday, November 12, 12-1 PM

AAARCC (915 5th St) and virtual

Join Dr. Anwer for lunch and reflection about how her book examines a filmic rendition of precarity, and how Bollywood is "not just a site of representation, but as an economic-cultural vector in its own right."

Cannot join in-person? Livestream available through Microsoft Teams: aaarcc.short.gy/screenonline​

About Book & Authors

Megha Anwer is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of English and Assistant Vice Provost for Research & Scholar Development at John Martinson Honors College. Dr. Anwer's research centers on perspectives and theories from urban studies, critical race studies, feminist studies, postcolonial studies and violence studies in a global and transnational context. Anupama Arora is a Professor of English and Communication at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

This book explores the role that Hindi films play in how precarity is mediated by film and what that mediation reveals about both contemporary India and the social life of the movies. It examines 19 Bollywood films that constitute India’s precarious public sphere, characterized by a pervasive and profound sense of professional-personal insecurity experienced by the vast majority. Screening Precarity: Hindi Cinema and Neoliberal Crisis in Twenty-First Century India is an intervention in the politics of representation, particularly of how marginal identities are shaped, scripted and screened when neoliberalism and authoritarianism enmesh. It is also a cultural analysis of how the biggest film industry in the world is embedded in global media networks and marshals state power and star power, national histories and transnational fantasies, structural impossibilities and individual agency.

Flyer: https://aaarcc.short.gy/screenflyer