This project investigates various ways in which resistance is explored by Kamala Das, Adoor Gopalakrishnan and Arundhati Roy in My Story, Vidheyan, and The God of Small Things respec-tively. “Liminal Resistances: Local Subjections in My Story, Vidheyan, and The God of Small Things” aims to examine the workings and creative subversions of hegemonic discourses of caste, class, gender and color within the local milieu of Kerala, India. By exploring the theoreti-cal apparatuses employed in three diverse texts set in Kerala, this project identifies: firstly, Das’s subversion of Nair Kerala’s sense of gendered and casted normativity in My Story; secondly, Adoor’s depiction of the notion of home that enables self-recognition between the exploited and tyrant ensuring both suppression and libratory self-formation for classed subjects in Vidheyan; and finally, Roy’s portrayal of the conceptual category of whiteness within Kerala as being nei-ther uniformly subservient nor stable as depicted in The God of Small Things. It is hoped that by identifying and exploring the theoretical nuances of resistances in these generically diverse texts—autobiography, film, and fiction-- all set within the local realms of Kerala, this project will contribute a new scholarship in postcolonial studies that will recognize and problematize local instances of subversions and their representations within the Indian subcontinent.

Thesis (MDram (Drama))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this thesis is to study the themes of identity and belonging in the films of Mira Nair. Three films form the basis of this study namely Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala and Monsoon Wedding. The approach is thematic, i.e using the film to explore different socio-political themes of identity rather than looking at the methodology she uses as a filmmaker. The analysis of each of the three films looks at a particular form of identity namely national, cultural or personal identity, and makes reference to Nair’s own comments on the films as well as academic articles on the films, her work and issues such as identity, nostalgia, home, belonging, marginalization, immigrants, street children and the like, in order to interrogate Nair’s exploration of the particular ideas within these films. It examines the films as if it were a work of literature, and looks at how it deals with these issues within a filmic context. What symbols does she use to show us we are dealing with cultural identity? Which character is symbolic of the modernist movement? Finally it examines the potential effect of these films on the society from which they derive, and comes to some conclusions about the effect these films may have in challenging, shaping and/or influencing ideas about nostalgia, home, identity, and so on. The discussions of the films show that she has been superbly able to exploit all the advantages of her chosen medium to bring her remarkable visual inventiveness and artistry into play in order to communicate this to an international audience and to make them think about the issues at hand. The filmmaker is finally established not only as simply a creator of film, but ultimately as a thinker and poet. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die doel van hierdie tesis is om die temas van identiteit en ‘n gevoel van behoort in die films van Mira Nair te bestudeer. Drie films vorm die basis van die studie naamlik Salaam Bombay!, Mississippi Masala en Monsoon Wedding. Die aanslag is tematies van aard, m.a.w. dit gebruik die films om die verskillende sosio-ekonomise temas van identiteit te identifiseer en ontleed, eerder as om die metodologie van haar as filmmaker te bestudeer. Die analise van elke van die drie films kyk na ‘n spesifieke vorm van identiteit, naamlik nasionale, kulturele of persoonlike identiteit en maak verwysing na kommentaar deur Nair haarself, sowel as akademiese artikels oor die films, haar werk en kwessies van identiteit, nostalgie, die konsep van ‘n tuiste, ‘n gevoel van behoort, marginalisasie, immigrante, straat kinders en dies meer. Die doel is om sodoende Nair se idees oor identiteit binne hierdie films te bevraagteken en ontleed. Die tesis ondersoek die films asof dit ‘n literere werk is, en neem in ag die maniere waarop dit na hierdie kwessies kyk binne ‘n filmiese konteks. Daar word byvoorbeeld gekyk na watter simbole sy gebruik wanneer sy verwys na kulturele identiteit. Watter karakter is die simbool vir die modernistiese beweging, ens. Uitendelik bevraagteken die tesis the potensiële effek van hierdie films op die omgewing en omstandighede waaruit dit ontstaan het, en kom tot sekere gevolgtrekkings met betrekking tot die mate waarin hierdie films kwessies van tuiste, nostalgie, identiteit ens beinvloed en/of vorm en bevraagteken. Die besprekings dui daarop dat sy baie bevoeg is om al die voordele van haar verkose medium tesame met haar indrukwekkende visuele verbeelding te gebruik om aan ‘n internasionale gehoor die kwessies te kommunikeer en hul te dwing om aktief te dink oor die kwessies aan hand. Uiteindelik word die filmmaker Nair nie slegs as ‘n skepper van film beskryf nie, maar ook as ‘n denker en digter.

This thesis proposes that the merging of the theories of ‘accented’ cinema and postcolonial feminisms allows for the establishment of a theoretical framework for the analysis of (what will be argued for) an emerging postcolonial feminist film practice. In An Accented Cinema: Exilic and Diasporic Filmmaking (2001), Hamid Naficy argues that even though the experiences of diaspora and exile differ from one person to the next, films produced by diasporic filmmakers exhibit similarities at various levels. These similarities, he says, arise as a result of a tension between a very distinct connection to the native country and the need to conform to the host society in which these filmmakers now live. Mira Nair and Deepa Mehta are women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora whose films depict Indian women – in comparison with their popular cinematic construction - in unconventional and controversial ways. These characters, at some crucial point in the films, transgress their oppressive nationalist representation through the reclaiming of their bodies and sexual identities. This similarity of construction in Nair and Mehta’s female protagonists, as a result, facilitates a filtering of postcolonial feminisms throughout the narrative of their films. Even though the postcolonial feminist writings of Chandra Talpade Mohanty (1991, 1994, 1997) and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak (1990, 1994, 1996, 1999) do not relate directly to the study of film or cinematic practices, their works, specifically those regarding the construction, maintenance and perpetuation of nation and nationalism in postcolonial narratives, serve as a specifically gender-focused appropriation of Naficy’s theories. Mohanty and Spivak’s arguments surrounding the use of text and, particularly, narrative as tools for the representation and empowerment of Third world women, women of colour and subaltern women, work toward illustrating how postcolonial feminisms articulate through a specific moment of ‘accented’ filmmaking: that of women filmmakers of the Indian diaspora. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2004.

This project outlines the design proposal for an alternative public high school in Toronto, Ontario. For this project the school is re-imagined as a Community Learning Centre. The goal of the Community Centre model is to foster life-long learning in young people which can occur when space emphasizes social interaction, citizenship, and life long learning. The design of the Community Learning Centre is an attempt to align educational priorities with design, to create learning environments that best suit the needs of the users. The focus of the project, is on places between the classrooms where there is opportunity for informal learning to take place. The term schoolscapes is use to describe these spaces. They include all of the places between classrooms and are a way of reimaging the corridors as active, lively and engaging spaces. To support and expand on the idea of schoolscapes, how the environment impacts people and learning, the shifting values in education, and how public space can be related to school interiors, have been investigated. The work of Prakash Nair, Annalise Gehling and Herman Hertzberger, on school design and its correlation to public space have been extremely influential for this project, as has the work of Jan Ghel on lively city spaces. Jan Ghel identifies key features of good public space that can provide the foundation for the design of informal learning spaces. The writing of Nair, Gehling and Hertzberger will be used to support how these characteristics can be applied to the learning environment. The design of the Community Learning Centre explores how the ideals imbedded in public space can be carried over to the interior of a learning environment.

This project outlines the design proposal for an alternative public high school in Toronto, Ontario. For this project the school is re-imagined as a Community Learning Centre. The goal of the Community Centre model is to foster life-long learning in young people which can occur when space emphasizes social interaction, citizenship, and life long learning. The design of the Community Learning Centre is an attempt to align educational priorities with design, to create learning environments that best suit the needs of the users. The focus of the project, is on places between the classrooms where there is opportunity for informal learning to take place. The term schoolscapes is use to describe these spaces. They include all of the places between classrooms and are a way of reimaging the corridors as active, lively and engaging spaces. To support and expand on the idea of schoolscapes, how the environment impacts people and learning, the shifting values in education, and how public space can be related to school interiors, have been investigated. The work of Prakash Nair, Annalise Gehling and Herman Hertzberger, on school design and its correlation to public space have been extremely influential for this project, as has the work of Jan Ghel on lively city spaces. Jan Ghel identifies key features of good public space that can provide the foundation for the design of informal learning spaces. The writing of Nair, Gehling and Hertzberger will be used to support how these characteristics can be applied to the learning environment. The design of the Community Learning Centre explores how the ideals imbedded in public space can be carried over to the interior of a learning environment.

Thesis advisors: Kevin Kopelson, Priya Kumar. Includes bibliographic references (p. 182-188).