Indian Societies and Cultures

Thursday7-10, Spring 2000, DePauw University

Srimati Basu
Phone: 658-4714
Office: Asbury 108b
E-mail: sbasu@depauw.edu

What can we learn about "Indian culture" in 16 weeks? Only a fraction of what historians, anthropologists, economists and artists have been saying about it, unfortunately. We will focus on some topics that have been subjects of contemporary debate, and others that have continued to intrigue anthropologists for a while: the meanings and legacy of "nationalism," forms of kinship, religious practice, material culture including food and clothing, and the relationship between caste, class and race. You will encounter these abstract-sounding phenomena by studying novels, films, and statistical snapshots in addition to anthropological essays. We will be looking at a variety of Indian cultures rather than trying to find "Indian" essences or commonalities; you may find issues you are familiar with that you can now begin to understand on a more complex level, or subjects strange to you that you can now place within more familiar contexts.

Books:

Amitav Ghosh, Shadow Lines
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things
Gloria Raheja/ Ann Gold, Listen to the Heron's Words: Reimagining Gender and Kinship in North India, University of California Press, 1994
Margaret Trawick, Notes on Love in a Tamil Family, University of California Press, 1992
Packet of Readings

Grade Distribution:

A. Quizzes, 20%
B. Papers, (3x10%=30%)
C. Midterm and Final Exam, (2x20%=40%)
D. Class Participation (including journal, book, film and speaker reviews), 10%
All assignments must be completed in order to pass the class.

Class Participation:

This semester, this class meets once a week, and so it is especially critical that you be present in class and have done the reading. A class that meets more often allows you to break up the week's readings, but in this case you will need to be very careful about spacing out all the reading and keeping track of your questions. Much of the material will be quite unfamiliar to you, so keep good notes when you read and write down all your questions and comments for class. There is no question too small! Remember to ask about terms and vocabulary words you don't understand. Keep track of your reactions, and the points which puzzle, excite or intrigue you. You can do this in the form of a reading journal or notebook. Your class participation grade will reflect the times you have been in class, that is, it will be lower if you have missed class a lot, but the most important component of your participation grade is that you take part actively in discussion and ask questions; mere presence in the classroom is not enough.

Quizzes and Exams:

There will be 8-10 quizzes on assigned reading material, including multiple choice and short answer questions. The Midterm and Final exams will require you to identify important terms and concepts and you will also be answering several essay questions. The material will be drawn from lecture material, readings, films and speakers, so make sure you have good notes in all these categories.

Papers:

In contrast to exams which largely deal with synthesis of assigned readings, the papers will allow you to do more independent research and analysis, to connect material you have found on your own to class readings. The first paper will be an analysis of a media report or representation of India, the second a research note on a topic related to kinship, the third a group/individual research project. I will give you detailed guidelines on each of these later. You are highly encouraged to check with me about the subject of your paper beforehand, and I'm happy to go over drafts with you and give you feedback (on content rather than grammar and spelling). Papers should be free of grammatical and proofreading errors and have a strong thesis and argument. Please be aware of plagiarism and academic integrity policies, of what you may quote directly and how you should acknowledge quotes; check with me or with the Writing Center in case of any doubts. Absolutely no late papers are accepted.

Attendance:

In addition to affecting your class participation grade, excessive unexcused absences will also cause your overall grade to be lowered. Because this class meets once a week, you are allowed only one unexcused absence. Remember that while I appreciate the courtesy of you letting me now you will not be in class, informing me you won't be there does not constitute an excused absence; participation in athletic or academic cocurricular events count towards excused absences, as do medical emergencies which have documentation.

	SCHEDULE	Readings
Feb. 3	Introduction to India http://www.indiana.edu/~isp/cd_rom	Salman Rushdie, from Mirrorworks Jawaharlal Nehru, Tryst with Destiny
Feb. 10: What is "India"?	Film, Rama ke Naam/In the Name of God Bring media/popular culture example to class	Uma Narayan, Cross-Cultural Connections, Border Crossings & Death by Culture Salman Rushdie, The Riddle of Midnight: India, August 1987 Sumita Chakravarti, Culture/Nation: Reclaiming the Past David Ludden, Ayodhya: A Window on the World
Feb. 17	Film, The Home and the World Bring topic for paper #1 to class Discussion of Patwardhan film and Ludden continued	Partha Chatterji, The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question
Feb. 24	Statistics: Dreze/Sen Paper 1 due	Jayati Ghosh, Development Strategy in India: A Political Economy Perspective S.N. Mukherjee, Bhadraloks of Bengal Amitav Ghosh, Shadow Lines, p.1-50
Mar. 2	Convocation Speaker: Henry Glassie	Shadow Lines, concluded
Mar. 9: Family and Kinship	Film, Dadi's family	Raheja/Gold, Listen to the Heron's Words, chapters 1-4
Mar. 16		Raheja /Gold, chapters 5-7 Kolenda, Woman as Tribute, Woman as Flower Menon, From Mothers to Daughters: Matrilineal Families in Kerala
Mar. 23	Midterm	Trawick, Notes on Love in a Tamil Family, chapters 1-3
April 6: Family and Religion		Trawick, chapters 4-7
April 13: Caste	Paper 2 due	M.N. Srinivas, Varna and Caste, The Dominant Caste in Rampura G.S. Ghurye, Features of the Caste System Joan Mencher, The Caste System Upside Down Leela Dube, Caste and Women
April 20		Zarina Bhatty, Social Stratification among Muslims in India J. Tharamangalam, Caste Among Christians in India Roy, The God of Small Things, p. 1-50
Apr. 28		Roy concluded. Crispin Bates, Race, Caste and Tribe in Central India: The Early Origins of Indian Anthropometry
May 5: Material/Popular Culture	Paper 3 due Project presentations
May 12	Popular Hindi film, TBA Final exam review	selection from Tarlo, Clothing Matters Narayan, Eating Cultures
Final exam: Saturday May 13 6-9pm