Manufacturing Indianness: Nation-Branding and Postcolonial Identity

548 Pages·2019·3.827 MB·English

by  Ishita Sinha Roy

1
Manufacturing Indianness takes an interdisciplinary approach in deconstructing
nation-branding exercises in neoliberal India, utilizing the fetish as a critical device to
demonstrate how postcolonial nation-building can become colonizing. Using interviews
M
with media-makers and nation-branding professionals, postcolonial theory, media
a
and cultural studies, psychoanalytic theories, political economy approaches, affective n
u Manufacturing
theory, cultural geography, and branding and marketing perspectives, Manufacturing
f
a
Indianness provides an insightful and academically sophisticated investigation into how c
t
the Indian state and its corporate partners have merged cultural/ethnic nationalism u
r
i Indianness
(Hindutva) with neoliberalism to form the ultimate fetish of Brand India. n
g

I
n
d
i
a
n
n
e
s
Ishita Sinha Roy is Associate Professor in Media Studies at Allegheny College in s

Pennsylvania. Her research interests cover postcolonial media studies, cultural studies, |
S
Nation-Branding
branding and marketing, digital media and storytelling, and new media technologies. i
n
h
Currently she is working on her next project on the colonization of bodies and doll
a and Postcolonial

culture. R
o
y Identity
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G Ishita Sinha Roy
www.peterlang.com
1
Manufacturing Indianness takes an interdisciplinary approach in deconstructing
nation-branding exercises in neoliberal India, utilizing the fetish as a critical device to
demonstrate how postcolonial nation-building can become colonizing. Using interviews
M
with media-makers and nation-branding professionals, postcolonial theory, media
a
and cultural studies, psychoanalytic theories, political economy approaches, affective n
u Manufacturing
theory, cultural geography, and branding and marketing perspectives, Manufacturing
f
a
Indianness provides an insightful and academically sophisticated investigation into how c
t
the Indian state and its corporate partners have merged cultural/ethnic nationalism u
r
i Indianness
(Hindutva) with neoliberalism to form the ultimate fetish of Brand India. n
g

I
n
d
i
a
n
n
e
s
Ishita Sinha Roy is Associate Professor in Media Studies at Allegheny College in s

Pennsylvania. Her research interests cover postcolonial media studies, cultural studies, |
S
Nation-Branding
branding and marketing, digital media and storytelling, and new media technologies. i
n
h
Currently she is working on her next project on the colonization of bodies and doll
a and Postcolonial

culture. R
o
y Identity
P
E
T
E
R
L
A
N
G Ishita Sinha Roy
www.peterlang.com
Manufacturing
Indianness
South Asian Literature,
Arts, and Culture
Studies

Moumin Quazi
General Editor

Vol. 1

The South Asian Literature, Arts, and Culture is part of the Peter Lang Humanities list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Ishita Sinha Roy

Manufacturing
Indianness

Nation-Branding
and Postcolonial Identity

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sinha Roy, Ishita, author.
Title: Manufacturing Indianness: Nation-Branding and Postcolonial Identity /
Ishita Sinha Roy.
Description: New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., 2019
Series: South Asian literature, arts and culture; v. 1 | ISSN 2157-0213
Includes bibliographical references.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018044189 | ISBN 978-1-4331-1396-3 (hardback: alk. paper)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6159-9 (paperback: alk. paper) | ISBN 978-1-4539-1249-2 (epdf)
ISBN 978-1-4331-6157-5 (epub) | ISBN 978-1-4331-6158-2 (mobi)
Subjects: LCSH: Branding (Marketing)—India. | Place marketing—India.
Classification: LCC HF5415.1255 .R69 2019 | DDC 352.70954—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018044189
DOI 10.3726/978-1-4539-1249-2
Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.
© 2019 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com
All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
For my parents Arrow & Bharati, and my brother Ranabir. Home is where you are.

Contents
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction: Text and Context: Postcolonial Media Studies and the
Fetishization of the Neoliberal Nation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
1 Nation Inc. and Postcolonial Neoliberalism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
2 From the East India Company to Nation Inc.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .94
3 Nation-Branding: India Inc. Is Incredible !ndia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .126
4 Taking Care of the Mother(land): Bollywood Patriotism and Young India. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .210
5 Manufacturing Terror®: Destroying the Other Through Nation-Branding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .308
6 Old and New Goddesses: Disrobing Indian Femininity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .395
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .495