Bollywood.

I feel like this is a bit stereotypical in nature that this topic was my first thought for this blog post…but the great thing about delving into stereotypes is coming out with a changed perspective on the other side. I’ve been interested in Indian culture for quite some time…yes, maybe it was in part due to Bend It Like Beckham (2002), but mostly due to the rich traditions of story-telling and literature that comes out of India and the Middle East. My short list of authors would include Rafik Schami, Jhumpa Lahiri, Salman Rushdie and Arundhati Roy, and there have been many other excellent books written by western writers on the subject like Life of Pi by Yann Martel, House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III, and A Son of the Circus by John Irving in the last few decades. I think that the vibrant culture has provided a certain amount of intrigue that attracts westerners.

When I decided to write this blog post on the subject of Bollywood, I really had no knowledge beyond beautiful women dancing and singing about lost loves in eastern versions of Busby Berkeley numbers. The term Bollywood, to me, was basically a knock-off of the far superior Hollywood.  I was surprised to find out that the Indian film industry, formally known as Hindi cinema, is as old as the American film industry. The first feature film made in India was Raja Harishchandra in 1913, and film switched quickly to sound after Alam Ara, the first talkie was produced in 1931.[1]  Hindi cinema has been critically and commercially successful since that time.

This information was a little shocking to me, as the general conception of Bollywood movies is low budget mass produced musicals. And to some extent that is not untrue, but many films are large budgets with the intent for a wide release throughout Europe and Asia. The elements of Bollywood musicals can be seen in recent western cinema as well. Watch the final musical number of Moulin Rouge (2001) again.

Currently there seems to be an increased interest in Hindi cinema with the world-wide success of Slumdog Millionaire (2008). The country has also started creating mixed language films such as Saawariya (2007) in which the dialogue moves in out of Hindi and English. The Victoria and Albert Museum has a wonderful online collection of Hindi cinema art and a film database from an exhibit, “Cinema India: The Art of Bollywood,” that ran in 2002.

I was extremely surprised to find that Hindi cinema has had such a long standing presence in the eastern world, and it has just as much influence on world-wide cinema as Hollywood.  The nickname, Bollywood, actually signifies the contemporary level of its influence to Hollywood and not its inferiority as a copycat.  Although there are still plenty of low budget Bollywood movies made every year, there is quite a bit more to the Hindi film industry than maybe the western world realizes. So although it may seem insignificant in the grand scheme of life…it’s one more stereotype demystified.

[1] Encyclopedia of Hindi Cinema. (New Delhi: Encyclopedia Britannica, 2003), 28; Ibid, 44.

Joseph Pulitzer in the Dominican Republic

 

In 2008, Junot Diaz become only the second Latino to win the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for his novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Only Oscar Hijuelos preceded Diaz, winning the award in 1990 for The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love. The Pulitzer Prize was establish by Joseph Pulitzer upon his death, and has been awarded in the Fiction category since 1918 (the category was originally named Novel until 1947). The authors who have been awarded the prize for fiction arguably include the most influential American writers of the twentieth century; Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, John Updike, Alice Walker, William Faulkner, and Toni Morrison just to name a few. The award is traditionally bestowed upon writers who have previously exhibited excellence, and who the board feels will continue to be a significant influence in the field. Some argue that the Pulitzers have traditionally shunned minorities in the past, and by the current record of Latino prize winners, there may be some truth to this. But the significance of the Pulitzers cannot be denied. Their bestowal of the award for Diaz’s work is monumental regardless of his ethnicity. After Diaz’s win, Hijuelos cautioned, “You have to be careful in the sense of encountering people who wouldn’t give you the time of day before, and suddenly you’re in the club…For me, when I won the Pulitzer, I remember thinking, ‘Where were all these Latino lovers before?’”[1]

Like Junot’s short stories, Oscar Wao, is a very personal depiction of life in America for children of Dominican immigrants. It brings to life an aspect of American society previously unknown to outsiders. So rather than ask where all the Latino lovers have been, Junot Diaz actually invites everyone to join in. This personal feeling has been a characteristic of all of the literary readings we have read throughout this semester. Richard Wright, Anzia Yezierska, Sherman Alexie, and Diaz use very personal depictions of their environments growing up to educate audiences about their cultural and ethnic heritages. And these authors have crafted some of the most compelling literature in American history. So why has it taken eighteen years for the Pulitzer Prizes to award its second Latino author? Are authors who specifically target audiences outside their respective ethnic identities fulfilling their responsibilities to the larger society? Or are they selling out by using their heritage to attract larger audiences? Is it the art and cultural award organizations’ responsibility to promote works by different ethnic or minority groups?

[1] Carlos Rodriguez Martorell, “Take it easy Junot, says fellow Pulitzer Prize-winner Oscar Hijuelos,” New York Daily News, April 15, 2008.

Beyond the Grave…

“He passed a small graveyard surrounded by a high iron picket fence. A white graveyard, he thought and snickered bitterly. Lawd Gawd in Heaven, even the dead cant be together!” [1]

In Richard Wright’s novella Fire and Cloud, Reverend Taylor notes the racial divide that crosses the fundamental basis of Christianity as he journeys back from near death.  Perhaps the most steadfast belief that could create a common ground between whites and African Americans is a belief in a higher power and eternal life beyond the grave.  But even in death, racism still exists.  Academic studies of segregated cemeteries are surprisingly limited.  The practice by law should have ended with the 1866 Civil Rights Act which states,

“All persons within the jurisdiction of the United States shall have the same right in every State and Territory to make an enforce contracts, to sue, be parties, give evidence, and to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of persons and property as is enjoyed by white citizens, and shall be subject to like punishment, pains, penalties, taxes, licenses, and exactions of every kind, and to no other.” [2]

But Jim Crow laws allowed traditionally white public cemeteries to refuse the sale of burial plots to African Americans.  In the 1950s it was estimated that 90% of public cemeteries nationwide included racially restrictive rules. [3]  It was not until 1969 when a dispute erupted in Birmingham, Alabama over the sale of a burial plot for an African American soldier killed in Vietnam that the courts determined the racial restrictions unconstitutional. [4]

Although the practice of segregated cemeteries has been legally abolished, it was alarming to find that the practice is still being carried out socially even today.  An unidentified female murder victim became the subject of a racially charged situation in rural Texas in 2008, when two judges fought over where and by whom the woman should be buried.  The case was initially handled by DeWayne Charleston, the county’s first black justice of the peace, who stated,

“In my time as J.P., I’ve come to understand that I am to call black funeral homes to pick up black people, white funeral homes to pick up white people…I didn’t want to cross that line when I was dealing with white bodies and the families were grieving, because I didn’t want to make a political point out of a case like that.  But here was a case where the body was unidentified.  I believed this was it, this was the opportunity for the cemeteries to be integrated without offending anyone.” [5]

The county’s top elected official, Judge Owen Ralston, who is white, argued that the funeral for the unidentified women would cost much less when handled by the Canon Funeral Home, traditionally used by whites.  The woman’s body was eventually buried by the Canon Funeral Home, but Judge Charleston noted of the woman and his desire to exhume her body, “…if nothing else, the Lord sent her to be laid to rest in Texas for this purpose, for a milestone…she can help heal the racial divide in our community.” [6]

Was Richard Wright admonishing the act of segregating the dead though the thoughts of Reverend Taylor?  I wonder if Wright would accept the current trend of being buried within a socially constructed segregation based on religious or church affiliations and pre-purchased family plots.  Should cemeteries be forcibly integrated by those who are living?  Does it all boil down to a final personal choice that should remain free of judgment? What happens, as in the case of the unidentified woman in Texas, when the person is unable to express their final wishes?

[1] Richard Wright, Uncle Tom’s Children, (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008), 203.

[2] Find US Law, “Civil Rights Act of 1866 & Civil Rights Act of 1871,” http://finduslaw.com/civil_rights_act_of_1866_civil_rights_act_of_1871_cra_42_u_s_code_21_1981_1981a_1983_1988.

[3] Kitty Rogers, “Integrating the City of the Dead: The Integration of Cemeteries and the Evolution of Property Law, 1900-1969,” Alabama Law Review 56, no. 1153 (2005).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Steve Friess, “Burial Exposes Racial Rift in Texas,” New York Times, July 5, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/us/05race.html.

[6] Ibid.

The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow

I had a difficult time deciding on a website to profile for this week’s class. The subject of racism and the African-American experience in the early 20^th century is a popular topic, and there were dozens of sites to choose from. However, I came away from this week’s reading wanting to learn more about the day-to-day difficulties of growing up black in early 20^th century America, particularly in the South.  With that in mind, I came across the companion website to the 2002 PBS documentary The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow.

Some Call Me “The Gangster of Love”

During last week’s class, we discussed the common literary theme of cultural encounters with identity.  These coming of age tales are often centered around a character’s life as an immigrant in the United States and their struggle to assimilate to American culture.  One of my favorite books in this vain is Jessica Hagedorn’s The Gangster of Love.  The novel details the life of a young Filipino girl coming of age in the United States.  It is a classic American tale detailing the struggles of assimilating into the American cultural way of life.  The popular questions of “What is American?” or “What is the deal with the English language?” are constantly raised by Rocky and her fellow characters.

As Rocky journeys through a myriad of complex questions, an apparent presentation of Orientalism is detected.  Edward Said’s theory on Orientalism is described as “a manner of regularized (or Orientalized) writing, vision, and study, dominated by imperatives, perspectives, and ideological biases ostensibly suited to the Orient” (Sered 1).  This theory represents the idea of the Orient as created in opposition to the West.  It is seen as something to be dominated by the West, appearing inferior and complex.  Men are represented as weak, effeminate, and sensual.  Women are displayed as hyper-sexual, exotic, and mysterious. It is important to take these ideas into mind when reading through Hagedorn’s novel.

Elvis Chang is a complex character representing the ideas of Orientalism.  He is tall and slender, appealing to many women.  A level of relaxation and defiance is detected through his character.  His name adds an interesting element, as it represents the influence of American culture on “the Orient”.  This is an interesting point to consider, revealing a hybrid of both “the Orient” and America.