Anti-caste music and cinema

Abstract

The coming of 'social media' and 'new media' has opened up multiple possibilities for anti-caste scholars to unite and speak against the fictitious representation of Dalits (ex-untouchables). Historically speaking, to deconstruct upper-caste-class narratives about the Dalit world, Dalit themselves, through bhajans, poetry, and autobiographical writings, have been telling stories of struggle and assertion against caste society. No matter what kind of social and infrastructural progress has been made, the notion of caste cannot be erased from India's cultural industry. In this relation, if we look at mainstream music and cinema that plays an important role in generating consciousness among the public in general, they largely depict upper-caste-class elite culture, and thereby the anti-caste projection of an egalitarian society remains excluded. However, as a result of the re-energization of anti-caste cultural politics, the picture of the Indian 'culture industry' has started to change in the recent past, specifically after the 1990s. Drawing from casteless and anti-caste understandings, the present chapter offers an extended meaning of anti-caste resistance through new forms of expression. It evaluates the past and present scenarios and how caste-imposed forms of expression that are represented through music and cinematic articulation have become a tool for anti-caste political resistance. The chapter looks at contemporary cinematic politics to understand why (or why not) these mediums are relevant in order to talk about cultural change. In addition, it considers how anti-caste symbols and images are depicted in music and cinema, affecting the dynamics of caste at large.