Professional Documents
Culture Documents
05
Television Narratives: Creating a Cultural Complicity;
a Semiotic Analysis of the Balaji Telefilms Discourse
Seema Khanwalkar
15
The King James Bible as sign system
in the eighteenth century
Brian Coates
21
Focussing on the Forest, Not just the Tree:
Cultural Strategies for Combating AIDS
Arvind Singhal
29
Development Communication: The Unfolding of Harmony
Gaston Roberge
37
The Dialectics of Advertising:
The Search for an Indian Tradition
Rashmi Sawhney
46
A Journey through four decades of Indian
Advertising: An Interview with S.R Ayer
Harsha Subramaniam
52
Encountering the Traumatic: Hey Ram and its
Cultural Narcissism
Venkatesh Chakravarthy
05 15
Television Narratives: The King James
Creating a Cultural Complicity Bible as a Sign System
A Semiotic Analysis of the Balaji in the Eighteenth Century
Telefilms Discourse Brian Coates
Seema Khanwalkar
21 29
Focusing on the Forest, Development
Not Just the Tree: Cultural Communication:
Strategies for Combating AIDS The Unfolding of Harmony
Arvind Singhal Gaston Roberge
37 52
42
The Dialectics of Encountering
A Journey through the
Advertising: The Search Traumatic:
four decades HeyofRam
for an Indian Tradition Indian
and Advertising:
its Cultural
An with S.R Ayer
Narcissism
Rashmi Sawhney Venkatesh Chakravarthy
Harsha Subramaniam
c o n v e r s a t i o n s
46
A Journey Through
Four Decades of
Indian Advertising:
An Interview with S. R. Ayer
Harsha Subramaniam
EDITORIAL
The economic liberalization drive of the 1990's created opportunities for new
and bold educational initiatives in communication. Industry captains, Non-Resident
Indians, and established colleges were quick to seize the opportunity and herald the
fourth generation of communications institutes in the country. MICA is the first such
private, not-for profit institute. Alive to the growing needs created due to emerging
technologies and globally integrated marketing communication business environ-
ment, fourth generation institutes developed strong industry linkages, diversified
the syllabi, sought faculty from allied fields, and emphasized on Research.
The publication of a research journal is the next logical step that many
departments and institutes have yet to take. MICA has taken the initiative in this
regard. The MICA Communications Review realizes the challenges it faces. Many
scholars lament the academic and research apathy that has crept into social sciences
in the country. The absence of communication research traditions in the academic
world is even starker. The Review proposes to fill this by inviting communication
practitioners and academic researchers to share their experiences and insights. Its
editorial board has, therefore, both well-known industry professionals and
university professors and other academicians on it. By so doing, the Review seeks
to cultivate a new language of inquiry into contemporary communication
phenomena and aspires to become a repository of knowledge flowing from it.
Welcome to MICA
You will be interested to know that MICA is the first postgraduate school of
its kind, certainly in the country and perhaps in the Asia Pacific region. Moreover,
it is the first of the fourth generation, in the Indian education system.
You will recall that the first generation was the establishment of university
education, with emphasis on the humanities, sciences and engineering. The chain
of the IITs in the fifties, corresponding with Indias industrial thrust, signified the
second generation. The establishment of the IIMs and other business schools, in the
sixties and the seventies was when the Indian management came into its own,
heralding the third generation.
Now MICA, the leader of the fourth generation is the natural extension of
the process of economic reforms of the early nineties, that opened up the Indian
market to the global situation with high technology inputs. The phenomenon that
it was, called for a renaissance in business practices and corresponding systemic
responses, throughout the nation.
The institutes forte lies in providing the Indian Industry with specialists in
the field of Marketing Communications. The spirit of MICA lies in its contempo-
rariness, a reflection of the industry it serves. The MICA Brand, thus, stands apart.
Today, it is the alma mater of over 2200 professionals that are serving
marketing, advertising, media, research and consultancy driven organizations.
The Campus
The MICA campus situated on the outskirts of Ahmedabad extends over 17 acres of
green grass and sports a well-tended garden of flowerbeds and orchards. A central
complex houses the classrooms, faculty chambers, the knowledge exchange centre
and the auditorium. In addition, there is a conference hall, a fully equipped
computer laboratory that provides facilities on par with the best management
institutes.
The six hostel blocks have 152 well-equipped rooms, complete with local
area network and Internet connection designed for comfortable and purposeful
occupancy.
The MICA KEIC (The Knowledge Exchange and Information Centre) has a
strong collection of books on subjects ranging from marketing and management to
Indian culture and people. In addition, there are over one hundred subscribed
journals, both national as well as international, that document the latest work in
the fields of marketing and communication. The KEIC also stores the latest
advertising campaigns and print ads in digital formats. MICAs KEIC provides
monthly briefing services to clients and subscribers and represents one amongst a
series of forays into real time information management, that benefit both the
student community as well as the academic and industry professional.
MICA also has a LAN of 300 personal computers with adequate back-up of
Internet connectivity platform, giving seamless access to information to all its
students and employees.
Television Narratives:
Creating a Cultural Complicity
A Semiotic Reading of the Balaji
Telefilms Discourse
Seema Khanwalkar
Consultant, Semiotics, India
This paper is an attempt to seek out and draw parallels and contrasts between the
mythical nationalism, with its orchestrated closure, constructed by a successful television
production company producing woman-dominated serials (Balaji Telefilms); and the
open-ended lives of todays Indian middle-class women. The Prime Time scheduling of
women-centred programming on television channels represents a dramatic cultural shift,
illustrating the increasing recognition of the Indian Womans effort to straddle the two
worlds of traditional and modern India. The paper also utilizes several research
evaluation tools from Narrative theory to Semiotics to read the discourse of Balaji
Telefilms.
7 TELEVISION NARRATIVES
Ekta has discovered a family and security in numbers. It was satellite television that made
her serials. She firmly believes that Indian society the first intervention changing PRIME TIME to
was always about joint families and we can still family viewing. Game shows, soaps, dance
make it happen. Her stories, she claims, are all shows, talk shows competed with news and
9
about selfless women who cope with difficult current affairs for viewership. Balaji Telefilms
8
relatives while anchoring joint-marital families. took this a step further by capturing PRIME
The natural road to this leads to Hinduism, the TIME slots across channelsDoordarshan, Zee,
largest followed religion in the country, which SONY, STAR, etc. For the first time, the entire
has historically promoted the joint family nation was subjected to women-centric serials,
system under the aegis of patriarchy. making PRIME TIME a womens prerogative,
creating a new Semiotics for television viewing.
While Balaji Telefilms and Ekta Kapoor
would like us to believe that these serials also Television narratives have become
give a voice and space to women, inaccessible Symbolsof identity, of culture, of groups with
in their day-to-day lives, we state and explore the homogenous identity constructs. These narratives
agenda of Balaji Telefilms as Narratives that create seem to have transformed into a kind of Quasi
complicity in a Jurassic Park manner, where Nationalistic medium. Ideologically, this natio-
women are one anothers adversaries, friends, nalism gives a feel good factor to the masses
foes, nurturers, and men are mere onlookers and by articulating their dreams, offering vicarious
props in this drama amongst women. The rules delights, pampering their intellectual abilities
are very clearly spelt out between and by bonding through televised serials, give
vent to their ideological frameworks. It has been
Protagonists Antagonists
argued, structuralists onwards, that stories are
Saccharine Sweet Bitter-than-Gourd
governed by unwritten rules acquired by all story-
Absolutely black
tellers and listeners, much like we all acquire
Under the guise of traditionality, these the basis rules of grammar. A closer look at the
women spend their entire life, battling family narratives of Balaji Telefilms, we believe will help
politics, and learning to balance traditional us to discover a well-developed Semiotic System.
obligations with modern aspirations.
Balaji Telefilms has more than 10 serials
Balaji Telefilms and the on air across channels, but for the purposes of
PRIME TIME Success discussion in this paper, we read five of the
most successful of these
To its credit, it must be admitted that
Balaji Telefilms
Balaji Telefilms has capitalized on PRIME TIME
viewing. PRIME TIME on television is the STAR PLUS SONY
evening slot of 9.00 - 11.00 p.m. The entire family Kyunki Saas... Kkusum
converges in front of the television or at least at Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki Kkutumb
Kasauti...
the dinner table. In the past, this time was
usually reserved for a male unwindingnews, These serials, like the other Balaji Prod-
current affairs, talk shows, etc. The women had uctions have a narrative content focusing on
their own exclusive time in the afternoon slots the various roles of Indian middleclass women:
where either repeats of televised serials or shows Ma/bhabhi, Beti/bahu, Patni and Saas; and their
on beauty and housekeeping were aired. This interrelationships with family and outlets for
segregation of viewing times had characterized self-expression. The central hypothesis around
the afternoon/evening slot as gossip value and these serials is that these narratives are stories
the PRIME TIME slot as important and of conformity and complexity. A formal method
significant. The contents of PRIME TIME and that borrows from Structuralism, Semiotics and
NON-PRIME TIME were defined by viewership Narratively will help to test this hypothesis.
9 TELEVISION NARRATIVES
line, the dress codes, the settings, colors, relation- Good Bahu Bad Bahu
ships, dialogues, etc. The next task consisted of Middle-class Upper-class
an effort to bring a preliminary order into the Traditional Non-traditional
assembled data, and the most obvious point to Family-oriented Individualistic
Patient, Tolerant Impatient, Intolerant
start was with the elimination of those claims Non-ambitious Ambitious
which did not provide any additional information Vulnerable/Straightforward Scheming/Non-vulnerable
to the existing pool; the idea being, to generate Positive, Builds/Creates Negative, destroys
Soft, Exterior Harsh, Demonic-exterior
non-redundant sets of elements, because most
of the communications in the media are reinforced Joint Family Nuclear Family
system at work. The next task then, is the Fulfilling, Comfort Unfulfilling, Discomforting
grouping of the binary oppositions in Security Causes insecurity
Creates bonds Creates differences
paradigmatic relationships, which could be Solutions Problems
more than one group. In other words every Gives strength Crates weaknesses
system of communication can have more than Character, Respect Diffusive - lacks character, Little respect
Safe Unsafe
one underlying structure. The paradigmatic Hindu Non-Hindu
groups discovered after reading the narratives
were as follows-
These substructures and all the binary
Middle Class Upper Class oppositions appear to be related by a common
Non-rich/simplicity Showy affluence thread to present aspects of one fundamental
Traditional Non-traditional theme which is:
Family bonds Non-family bonds
Home-focus World-focus Our way of life as opposed to Not our way of Life.
Togetherness, sharing Individualism, non-sharing
Emotional Practical Our way of life refers to everything
Non-ambitious Ambitious
positive and is earmarked by everything that
Grounded Pretensions
Sensitive, Caring Insensitive, Cruel sustains and grows. Going by the numerous
11 TELEVISION NARRATIVES
intentionality of the narrative finds its justifica- Projecting these narratives onto a
tion after the fact. Thus, the acts and initiatives of Semiotic Square, will organize the conceptual
the female protagonists across Balaji Telefilms universe of these narratives coherently,
of overcoming all the obstacles and hurdles, 14
The semiotic square represents a
were conceived within the frame of existing
scientific legacy in semiotic theoryan assertion
structures of hierarchy and interpersonal require-
that there is no meaning without difference
ments within the Indian family system. The
12 (Saussure, 1916) and that all systems of
basic narrative schema then, would be as below
signification is a system of relations and not a
(Relation of Presupposition)
(Relation of Presupposition)
The protagonist, initially occupies a system of signs as stated earlier. For example
vulnerable position and obtains sanction within good is only understood in relation to bad
the family only when she has successfully and vice-versa. Each of the two positions pre-
carried forward her duties and obligations. The supposes the other. But this basic relationship
narratives traverse between the two trajectories can get complicated and what we finally have is
of the protagonist, and of the value systems of
Good vs Bad
the Indian joint family. The protagonists, are
heroes within the value system of this discourse.
Relation of contradiction
Relation of complementarity
Non-connect vs - Non-disconnect
DISCONNECT CONNECT
NON-CONNECT NON-DISCONNECT
13 TELEVISION NARRATIVES
Conclusion study for McCann Erickson. Source: Brand Equity, The
Economic Times, May 27-2 June, 1998.)
This paper has addressed the Narratives across 8 Source: Website, Daily Dose Television article on Ekta
Kapoor.
Balaji Telefilms as a complete system. The
9 It was on SONY that this experiment first took place.
discourse of these narratives takes recourse in STAR TV followed suit.
invoking sentiments of Indianness, traditions, 10 The Analytical approach discussed here is based on the
joint family, Hindu cultureall of which are Semiotic method developed and applied in Marketing
Communications by Floch, J.M. (2001).
constructed in a discourse that only reiterates
11 See Kakar, S (the Inner World)
an ideology of who we are and who we are
12 Based on recent deliberations and applications of the
not. While these narratives claim to celebrate generative model as developed by Greimas (1979). For a
and applaud the Indian women, they play on detailed application, see Floch (2001).
existing stereo-types about women, their roles, 13 These responses have been extracted from a consumer
research conducted by ORG-MARG. The author initiated
expectations of them in an effort to demo- the semiotic analysis for this study.
nstrate an equivalence between the author, 14 This dynamic conceptualization of the production of
Balaji Telefilms and the target audiencethe meaning is one of the major contributions made by A.J.
Greimas to the overall project of General Semiotics.
Indian middle-class.
Brian Coates
Department of Languages and Cultural Studies
University of Limerick, Ireland
A study of the changing attitudes to the status of the 1611 (AV) translation of the Bible
during the eighteenth century will be elaborated through a semiotic analysis of
contemporary commentaries. It will be demonstrated that the Bible, from its initial status
as a text of public, morally-inspiring use-value is transformed during this period into
a text of exchange-value, an instance, within a newly-professionalized aesthetic
establishment, of the sublime, the primitive, the poetic. It then takes a place it occupies
to this day of a central text in the secular canon of English Literature, then the
emerging gold standard of the nationalist aesthetic enterprise.
By way of immediate example, take the Circulation, exchange, trade can be linked
following of Dr Johnson: to the kind of investment that the translated
Turn on the prudent Ant thy heedless eyes,
Bible attracted from its readership. Rejection,
Observe her labours, Sluggard, and be wise; assimilation, accommodation and radical appro-
No stern command, no monitory voice, priation, strategies all present to a varying
Prescribes her duties, or directs her choice;
Yet timely provident, she hastes away
degree from Milton onward (and lasting on into
To snatch the blessings of a plenteous day; our own day) suggest that this central text
figures as a site of difference, a place where
...From this hubbub of words pass to the
competing representations can be articulated.
original,
The text is always familiar and always foreign.
Go to the Ant thou Sluggard, consider her ways The commodification of the King James Bible
and be wise; which having no guide, overseer, or
ruler, provideth her meat in the summer, and turns it, in Marxs analysis, into a symbol, since
21
gathereth her food in the harvest. in so far as it is a value, it is only the material
23
envelope of the human labor spent upon it.
For Wordsworth there is no want of a
proper translation for the reason that the King The Bible is both truth and a translation
James Bible has now entered the canon of of the truth. It is constativetelling revealed
English Literature, a canon he spends some time truthand performativegenerating truth from
in outlining in that same text; and it is a canon its own linguistic structure. In De Mans terms,
that is explicitly established in opposition to the it is a work of grammar, codifying our knowl-
values of that classical heritage that Milton, and edge of the history of the race and of Gods
his successors had tried to link with the Hebraic intentions towards His chosen peopleand
and Christian world. Attitudes to the translated rhetorical, unassessable by outside reference. In
Bible provide one way of anchoring the comp- Jakobsons terms, it is set to message and set
lexities of that relationship. The philosophic to reference. It is at the centre of the Christian
for different linguistic garb, as a measure of fine 3 Richard Wynne, The New Testament (1764) quoted in
Norton p. 240 .
writing and as that writing itself. Readable as
4 Edward Harwood, A liberal Translation of the New
truth, as metaphor, that is, rhetoric, as a poetry Testament (1768) quoted in Norton p. 239.
of a foreign model - which could be understood 5 Critical Review (1787), p. 46 quoted in Norton p. 241.
by analysisfor example, the use of parallelism 6 Vicesimus Knox Essays Moral and Literary (1778) quoted
in Norton p. 244.
could be learned; instancing the sublime
7 Samuel Johnson, Selected Writings. ed. Patrick Cruttwell
(Longinus), as poetry in the English language, Penguin. 1968 pp. 278-9.
the nature of which revealed the authentic voice 8 To my Dear Friend Mr. Congreve, On His Comedy calld
of the race according to Wordsworths Preface. The Double Dealer in Poetry of the Augustan Age (Ed.)
Angus Ross. Longman 1970, p.5
One reading of this undecidability stems 9 Quoted by Norton p.193.
from Derridas exposition of Walter Benjamins 10 The Guardian ed. J. Calhoun Stevens. University of
Kentucky 1982 (No. 86, June 19, 1713), p.313.
The Task of the Translator:
11 R. Lowth, Lectures on the Sacred Poetry of the Hebrews.
As Walter Benjamin says, the model of all Volume I. Routledge/Thoemmes Press 1995. Lecture 7,
translation is the sacred text. A sacred text is 154-155.
untranslatable, says Benjamin, precisely because 12 Lowth Lecture 7, p.155.
the meaning and the letter cannot be dissociated. 13 Lowth, Lecture 16, pp.362-363.
The flow of meaning and the flow of literality
cannot be dissociated thus the sacred text is 14 Lowth, Lecture 3, pp. 72-73.
untranslatable. The only thing one can do when 15 M. Roston, Prophet and Poet. Faber 1965, p.134.
translating a sacred text is to read between the 16 Longinus On The Sublime in Classical Literary Criticism
lines, between its lines. Benjamin says this reading tr. T. S. Dorsch. Penguin 1965, p.108.
or this intralinear version of the sacred text is the 17 Longinus p.111.
24
ideal of all translation: pure translatability.
18 K. Marx and F. Engels, Manifesto of the Communist
Party Collected Works, Vol 6. Lawrence and Wishart
The King James Bible, then, by attracting 1976, p. 487.
such a weight of diverse criticism, comment and 19 Conversation with Reynolds quoted in W. Jackson Bate,
praise, can be read as an index of changing Samuel Johnson. Chatto and Windus 1978, p. 520.
cultural and economic terms. The traffic 20 W. Blake, Preface to Milton, Poetry and Prose of
William Blake ed. G. Keynes. Nonesuch 1961, p. 375.
between sacred and secular, scholarly and
21 W. Wordsworth, Preface to Second Edition of Lyrical
popular, nave and cultivated modes of feeling Ballads Poetical Works ed. T. Hutchinson. Oxford
and understanding during the long eighteenth University Press 1969, p. 742.
century is shown in the varied and creative 22 S. Greenblatt, Shakespearean Negotiations. University of
California Press 1988, p.7.
attitudes that writers of the time employ in their
23 K. Marx, Selected Writings in Sociology and Social
reading of the text. It stands for pure Philosophy: Capital I (1867). Ed T. B. Bottomore and M.
translatability; untranslatable. Rubel. Penguin p. 184.
24 J. Derrida, The Ear of the Other: Otobiography,
Transference, Translation ed. Christie MacDonald. Bison
Press 1985, p. 1003.
Dr Brian Coates is a Lecturer in English and Cultural
Studies at the University of Limerick, Ireland. Research The citations in the article do not conform to the APA style
interests include Literary and Cultural Theory, Postmodernism - Editor.
and Media Studies. His most recent publication is a chapter
on Anthropological Criticism in The Cambridge History of
Arvind Singhal
Presidential Research Scholar and Professor
School of Interpersonal Communication
Ohio University, USA
Most behavior change communication interventions for HIV prevention, care, and
support have focused on individuals as the locus of change. Metaphorically-speaking,
interventions have focused more on the tree, and not enough on the forest of which the
tree is a part. The present article argues for the importance of focusing on the forest in
designing and implementing culturally-sensitive communication interventions. Culture-
based approaches to HIV/AIDS communication interventions must (1) view culture as an
ally, (2) reconstruct cultural rites, (3) employ culturally-resonant narratives, and (4) create
a culturally-based pedagogy of HIV prevention.
Employing culturally-resonant narratives, and
Creating a culturally-based pedagogy of HIV
worldwide had been infected with HIV, of which
prevention.
25 million had died of AIDS. Of the 40 million
people who are living with HIV, 28 million are Behavior Change Communication:
in sub-Saharan Africa, and some 4 million are Focusing on the Tree
in India (Singhal & Rogers, 2003). In Zimbabwe, Behavior change models for HIV/AIDS
a country in Sub-Saharan Africa, 45 percent of communication programmingsuch as the
children under the age of five are HIV-positive, diffusion of innovations (Rogers, 1995), the
and the epidemic has shortened life expectancy theory of reasoned action (Fishbein & Ajzen,
by 22 years. Two out of three Zimbabweans, 1975), and hierarchy-of-effects (McGuire, 1981)
between the ages 15 to 39 years, are HIV-positive. begin with ascertaining the knowledge,
A 15-year-old in Botswana or South Africa, has a attitudes, behavioral intentions, and behavioral
one in two chance of dying with AIDS. AIDS practice of individuals regarding HIV preven-
deaths are so widespread in South Africa that tion, care, and support (Singhal & Rogers, 2003).
small children now play a new game called Gaps in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors
Funerals (Singhal & Howard, in press). among a target audience are identified, and
However, in the next decade, the epicenter of communication interventions are then targeted
HIV/AIDS is moving from countries of Sub- to address these deficiencies at the individual
Saharan Africa, to India, China, and Russia. By level. However, results of behavior change
2010, India is projected to have from 15 to 20 communication strategies for HIV prevention
million HIV-positive cases. that have targeted individuals have been mixed
at best, and generally dismal (Airhihenbuwa,
To date, most behavior change communi-
1999; Melkote, Muppidi, & Goswami, 2000).
cation interventions for HIV prevention, care,
Why? Behavior change communication
and support have focused on individuals as the
strategies, by focusing solely on individual-
locus of change. Metaphorically-speaking, HIV/
level changes subscribe implicitly to at least
AIDS interventions have focused more on the tree,
four mistaken assumptions.
and not enough on the cultural forest of which
Behavior change communication strategies
the tree is a part. What lessons should countries
assume that all individuals are capable of
like India, sitting on the cusp of HIV/AIDS
controlling their context. However, whether
explosion, glean from these past experiences?
or not an individual can get an HIV test, use
How can they more strategically employ
condoms, be monogamous, and/or use clean
culturally-sensitive communication strategies
needles are all affected by cultural, economic,
for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support?
social, and political factors over which the
The present article argues for the individual may exercise little control.
importance of incorporating locally-situated Behavior change communication strategies
knowledge, including its constituent cultural assume that all persons are on an even
elements, to design, develop, and implement playing field. However, women and those of
effective HIV/AIDS interventions. The limitations lower socio-economic status are more
of individual-directed behavior change communi- vulnerable to HIV/AIDS.
cation strategies are discussed, and an argument Behavior change communication strategies
is put forth for considering cultural strategies in assume that all individuals make decisions on
designing and implementing campaigns for their own free will. However, whether a
HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and support. These woman is protected from HIV is often
strategies include: determined by her male partner.
Viewing culture as an ally, Behavior change strategies assume that all
rates of HIV infection among young girls in employ culturally-resonant narratives, and
Kenya are five times higher than for young create a culturally-based pedagogy of HIV
Conclusions
References
Vera Paivas work in Brazil, and dissatisfaction
Airhihenbuwa, C.O. (1995). Health and culture: Beyond the
with biomedical, individual-oriented behavioral western paradigm. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publica-
change approac-hes, point to the importance of tions.
thinking boldly, radically, and culturally about Airhihenbuwa, C.O. (1999). Of culture and multiverse:
Renouncing the universal truth in health. Journal of
HIV prevention, care, and support. Needed are Health Education, 30(5), 267-273.
more culturally-based approaches, as opposed Airhihenbuwa, C.O., & Obregon, R. (2000). A critical
to individual-centered rational approaches. assessment of theories/models used in health communi-
cation for HIV/AIDS. Journal of Health Communication,
Needed are more community-based, dialogic 5, 5-15.
approaches, as opposed to individual-based Barnett, T., & Blaikie, P. (1992). AIDS in Africa: Its present
banking approaches. and future impact. New York: Guildorm Press.
Blair, C., Ojakaa, D., Ochola, S.A., & Gogi, D. (1997). Barriers
Our analysis suggests that culture can to behavior change: Results of focus group discussions
Gaston Roberge
Professor
St. Xaviers College, India
The paper discusses the development communication discourse which, ever since the end
of World War II, has named certain nations developed and others underdeveloped. In the
discourse as well as in practice, communication was co-opted as an instrument for
development.
These notions have evolved. But even today the idea that you can make people change
their behavior to emulate Western developed countries still lingers in the mind of
"development" agents.
The paper advocates an approach in which true dialogue is itself part of the development
process. In this view true dialogue is at once dialectical and dialogical giving their place
to both mind and heart.
31 DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
Yet, people failed to see that India -and Good news spreads. That is, what is relevant,
no doubt other underdeveloped countries- had useful, important to people, spreads, irrespective
an extraordinary communication system that of the communication technology. On the other
permitted India to know what had to be known hand, dont we know that even with the best
almost instantaneously. Example: the assass- communication media, what is relevant to us
ination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Even before the does not always reach us?
bureaucrats decided to release the news on the
The acceptance of the media standards as
Government (sole at the time) television network
the norm which developing countries should
the news had spread all over the country.
strive to achieve has had incalculable, harmful,
Another example: In the mid-nineteen effects on these countries. It has colonized them.
seventies, there was a severe drought in some They have internalized somebody elses thought
part of India. People took to eating a wild about their own reality. They have developed a
variety of dal. But unless it was boiled, that dal sense of inferiority. They have grown ever more
was toxic. Since the area fell within the reach of convinced that the developed West was the
the satellite used for its Satellite Instructional model to emulate.
Television Experiment (SITE), the Government
While we, in India, had our own way of
of India requested filmmaker Shyam Benegal to
thinking our reality, we fast became adept at
produce a television program explaining to the
thinking it the way development agencies did. It
people how to prepare the wild dal. The
is not a matter of asserting that one way of
program would be telecast through the facilities
thinking is superior to another. It is a matter of
of SITE. Benegal went to the area and convened
acknowledging that there are different ways of
a meeting of local communicators: storytellers
thinking. Some ways may be more appropriate.
and singers. In no time he obtained from them
In any case, thinking in ones own way is a
material for a television program. He then went
form of freedom we lost to an extent during the
to Mumbai to process his film. But he soon got
development communication decades. We were
a message from the field: We do not need the
not even aware of the loss. And the communi-
television film. The local communicators have
8 cation problem I alluded to earlier is a problem
already spread the message. I do not mention
of communication between ways of thinking,
that case here to argue that India does not need
ways of seeing, ways of hearing and ways of
television technology. My view is that while
feeling. It is a problem of intercultural dialogue.
adopting the new communication technologies
That problem is to be solved not by winning
for our own purposes, we had no need to feel
over the weaker parties involved or by
inferior in the area of communication.
obliterating their ways. The solution lies in the
Besides, the application of the indicators acceptance of a plurality of cultures.
mentioned above did not take into consider-
ation the community life prevalent in India. What All that was mentioned above shows that
if one copy of a newspaper is used by more than not only we have arrived at erroneous conclu-
10 people? The fact is, one copy of a newspaper sions in our thinking, but the way we have been
is used by more people in India than in America thinking about development, and especially
where there prevails a much more individual- about our development, was itself erroneous. It
istic way of life. The same thing can be said of would be pointless to formulate other definitions
television and radio sets. For instance, the SITE of development with the same type of thinking.
was conducted in 1975 with community tele- A comparison may help: ever since
vision sets. From fifty to a hundred people would Shannon and Weaver have proposed their
gather to watch the programs. Similarly, many diagram of the communication process, there
a family engaged in a cottage industry listen have been several variations on the model. We
to the radio while working together. could have more. But the basic assumption that
33 DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
the fountain of our creativity and progress (...) to but a small part of the population. It was
Central to culture is freedom (...) to decide what government by the people, but not everybody
we have reason to value, and what lives we was part of the people. Apart from that fact,
10
have reason to seek. democracy is a political system that may (and
should?) be questioned. The Mohawks, in
In addition to having a negative approach
particular, were horrified at the fact that the
to cultures, some development agents have often
Canadian Government would have liked them
looked down on the mythological thinking of
to allow 51 out of 100 persons to decide for the
some of the underdeveloped people. The
other 49 persons. That, for them, was absolutely
development agents have concluded that these
aberrant. People living in harmony, they thought,
people must think their reality afresh. They
arrive at important decisions by consensus. If the
must de-mythologize their thinking.
establishment of democracy is development,
Nothing is more abhorrent to develop- then, they did not want development. Besides,
ment agents than mythology. For, they rightly their language does not have a word for demo-
hold that mythology is not rational thinking. cracy, let alone for leader.
And development agents admit of only one sort
They were not alone to think that way.
of thinking, namely, the rational. That, in turn,
People in the slums of Mexico, for instance, did
is a myth. Panikkar defines myth as that in
not wish to elect leaders. They too knew that
which we believe without believing that we
power corrupts. But they acted accordingly. They
believe in it. Or, again We believe in it to such
did recognize natural leaders and they were
a point that we do not believe that we believe in
11 happy to follow them so long as they behaved
it. Perhaps, more simply, a myth is a belief or
themselves. And they gave nobody the power to
opinion that is unquestioned and that is not
represent them in negotiations with the
perceived as a belief or an opinion. In
municipality of Mexico.
Panikkars vocabulary, it is a presupposition.
For development agents, on the other
Modern man has a number of myths, like
hand, democracy is a must in any developed
those of science, rational thought, democracy and
nation. Thus, the myth of democracy and the
development. There is no possibility of dialogue
myth of consensus constituted the frameworks
between developed and underdeveloped so long
of a dialogue between Mohawks and the
as each party involved does not acknowledge
Canadian Government, respectively.
that his or her thought rests on a number of myths.
The main positive achievement of dialogue is to Negative presuppositions on the part of
help each one unveil ones own myths. Not that the developed regarding mythic thought render
the unveiling will be the end of myth. On the almost impossible any dialogue between
contrary, once unveiled a particular myth will developed and underdeveloped. But there are
give place to a next one. For, believes Panikkar, also confrontations of both parties scales of
a human cannot think without myth. values. Example: a professional infirmarian is
living and working in a slum. One day, the
The problem with the moderns is that
infirmarian receives a small donation for his
they do not acknowledge that their scientific
work. That is just before Christmas, and although
and rational rest on myths. Yet, they more or
the infirmarian is a Christian he lives amongst
less consciously want to impose their myths
Muslims and Hindus. The infirmarian calls some
onto other people, and they fail to appreciate
of the local leaders to discuss with them what to
the myths of these other people.
do with the donation. The infirmarian feels that
Take, for instance, the myth of democracy. a nice Christmas gift to the slum dwellers would
Among the Greeks, who apparently first be to have the common latrines cleaned. The
experienced democracy, that system was open leaders are appalled. They say: Christmas is a
Here you have the example of a man Dialogue is always potentially dialectical
dedicated to the service of the poor. In these two and dialogical. Both are complementary.
circumstances, the very people he served Dialectical is rational, it is the part of
questioned his values. Whose values were to be reason: the eyes of intelligence to see with.
preferred? Dialogical is the mythic, the non-rational: the
An obscure belief that there are absolute ears of the heart to listen with. The dialogical is
values against which all the rest can be assessed between two persons; the dialectical is between
causes development agents to lack flexibility. two minds.
That belief has now been shattered. No one has A problem arises when only dialectical
the monopoly of human life. No ones experience dialogue is allowed, trusted. And that problem
encompasses the whole of reality. Hence, one can is only too common.
only be modest. The Mohawks experience is that
The dialectical dialogue is not the only, nor even
modesty must be coupled with what they call the most important form of dialogue. Discovering
cosmic confidence. Both, modesty and cosmic the capital importance of dialogical dialogue
confidence, have a liberating effect. represents an important mutation in our times... It
befits the kairos (jug) of our times to have liber-
14
Are, then, the myths, values and cultures ated dialogue from the tutelage of dialectics.
of the underdeveloped and those of the Dialogical dialogue prevents all power relations:
developed irreconcilable? They will be if they further intentions, like to convert, to dominate or
15
even to know the other for ulterior motives.
are conceptually defined such, that is, if they
are logically set apart. But, as in the case of However, it is clear from what has been
genders, the two apparently opposite may be noted above about the dominant paradigms,
perceived as a non-duality. What is implied in that dialogical dialogue is not easy. Cees
Vachon/Panikkars view is Hamelink concurs with that view:
not unity, nor plurality, nor monism, nor dualism, It should the foremost priority on the develop-
but non-duality-harmony in our differences, ment agenda to develop the capacity for the
respectiveness, reciprocity, constitutive intercon- worlds people to converse with each other across
nectedness, maintenance of polarities without boundaries of ethnic background, culture, religion
13
polarization, dialogue and interaction. and language.
35 DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION
patience for dialogical communication. The dialo- Classroom. He was Director of Chitrabani and EMRC until
gue requires the capacity to listen, to be silent, to 1996 and has been consultant to Roopkala Kendro, a
suspend judg ment, to critically investigate ones development communication center of the Government of
own assumptions, to ask reflexive questions and to West Bengal. He has written over a dozen books on
be open to change. The dialogue has no short-term communication and film, including Communication
and certain outcome. This conflicts with the spirit Cinema Development, for which he was given a national
16 award on the occasion of the 46th International Film
of modern achievement-oriented societies.
Festival of India, 1999.
A complementary reflection on the role
of the development agent as mediator rather References
than intermediary can prepare the development 1 Fiske, J., et al. (1994). Key concepts in communication and
agent for dialogical dialogue. cultural studies. (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
2 Fiske, J., et al. (1994). Key concepts in communication and
We believe that just as modern culture tends to
cultural studies. (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
replace myth by logos (reason), the symbol by the
sign, words by terms, reality by its representatives/ 3 Schirato, T. & Webb, J. (2002). Whats in a name? in INTER
representations/meaningsand thus to reduce the sections. The Journal of Global Communications & Culture,
2(3-4), 3-10.
former to the latterso it tends also to confuse the
mediator with the intermediary and to reduce the 4 Waisbord, S. (2001). Family tree of thoeries, methodologies
former to the latter. Language itself has ceased to and strategies in development communication: convergences
be a mediator and has become a mere interme- and differences. Silvio Waisbord, Ph.D., Rutgers University
diary, a mere vehicle. That is why we communicate waisbord@scils.rutgers.edu. Prepared for The Rockefeller
a lot, but oftentimes without communing, i.e., Foundation. Placed on The Communication Initiative web-
site, August 30, 2001. http://www.comminit.com.
without reaching our respective concrete and deep
cultural realities, without reaching the reality of 5 Gitlin, T. (1995). Media sociology: The dominant paradigm.
17 In Boyd-Barrett & C. Newbold (Eds.), Approaches to media.
life which transcends us all.
A reader. (pp. 21-24). London: Arnold.
Naturally, if one holds that communi- 6 Klein, N. (2000). No space no choice no jobs no logo. London:
Flamingo.
cation simply is the transfer of a message, then,
7 Bales, K. (2002). The social psychology of modern slavery.
it is enough for one to be an intermediary, a Scientific American April 24, 286.
vehicle for that message. But from that position, 8 Personal communication to the author.
one cannot enter into a dialogical dialogue. 9 (1995). The experience of Vachon was reported on in three
issues of INTER Culture, under the title of Guswenta or the
Intercultural mediation should therefore not be intercultural imperative, towards a re-enacted peace accord
reduced to a technique, a science, an ideology, a between the Mohawk Nation and the North American
model, a theory or system. Nor can it be reduced to Nation-States (and their peoples). Part 1. The Intercultural
negotiation and rational organization. It is a Foundations of Peace. Section I. Seeking a common language.
18
wisdom and an art. Section II. A common horizon. Accepting the emerging new
encompassing myth: The pluralism (of truth and of reality),
Conclusion and interculturalism. Section III. A new method. Dialogical
dialogue, mythico-symbolic consciousness, intercultural
Development communication, yes, of course. But mediation, beyond the political culture of modernity as
universal frame of reference. INTER Culture, 28(127, 128, 129).
not as it was defined so far in what I have called
10 Pandya, M. (1997). Western democracy is of very
the development communication discourse. In recentorigin. Little India, 7(2).
that discourse, the development agents have 11 INTER Culture,127, p.38).
defined unilaterally both development and 12 Personal communication to the author.
communication. What is advocated in this essay 13 INTER Culture, 127, p. 72.
is another form of communication for another 14 INTER Culture, 129, p. 2.
form of development, i.e. another development 15 INTER Culture, 129, p. 3.
communication; one that fosters the unfolding 16 Personal communication to the author.
17 Vachon, 129, p. 21
of harmony among people.
18 Vachon, 129, pp. 31-32
Rashmi Sawhney
Department of Languages and Cultural Studies
University of Limerick, Ireland
A study of contemporary advertising needs to take into account the influence of Western
aesthetics of representation on Indian advertising as well as the intertextuality between
advertising and other Indian art forms. On the basis that advertising in India is situated
within and in continuation with a long tradition of representational formats that are
uniquely Indian, this paper examines the sign-system of advertising in the Indian
context using a semiotic approach. The author suggests that the organization of time and
space in a society influence both, the technical and representational aspects of
advertising, and goes on to examine the cultural construction of desire, reality, and
identity as factors that influence the reception of advertisements in a culture. The paper
thus, presents an argument for taking into consideration the unique position of
advertising in Indian society and exploring creative options offered through the
development of an indigenous aesthetic tradition.
and selective assimilation (Nandy,1983) exhi- Freud, S. (1976). The interpretation of dreams. Harmonds-
worth: Penguin.
bited in Indian society, a fact that is evident Gaines, E. (2000). Imagining the other: An American
through its mythology and history, make it interpreting signs of India. In C.W. Spinks & S. Simpkins
possible for the communication forms and (Eds.), Semiotics 1999; New York, Peter Lang Publishing.
Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. New York: Harper
representation techniques we use to represent a
Trade.
symbolic transgression and existence in Jena, S. K. (2000). Globalisation and popular culture:
multiple states through visual images. The Reading advertisements sociologically. Paper presented at
the LEC Seminar Workshop The limits of cultural
possibilities offered by this phenomenon are
globalisation, JNU and Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg.
numerous and exciting and when considered in Kakar, S. (1981). The Inner world: A psycho-analytical study
totality with other culture specific factors such of childhood and society in India. New Delhi: Oxford
as those of time, space, reality and identity, the University Press.
Kakar, S. (1983). The cinema as collective fantasy. In Aruna
canvas of creativity available to the advertising
Vasudev & Philippe Lenglet (Eds.). Indian cinema
industry is vast. Consider for example the creative superbazaar. (pp. 89-97). New Delhi: Vikas.
potential of simulated exposure to different media Kaptan, S. (2001). Women in advertising. Jaipur: Book Enclave.
in continuum displaying the same message; or Khanwalkar, S. (2001). When is a coconut not a coconut?
Using semiotics to harness culture in India. In ESOMAR
that of the representation of multiple identities Publication Series, Vol 249.
of a single persona in different media to build up Pandya, I. (1977). English language in advertising: A linguistic
a complete signifying system for the audience to study of Indian press advertising. Delhi: Ajanta Publications.
comprehend; or simply the possibility of repre- Pillai, N.N. (n.d.). Press advertising today: A study of trends.
New Delhi: Indian Institute of Mass Communications.
senting simultaneously the past and the present.
Lacan, J. (1977). The four fundamental concepts of psycho-
analysis. London: Hogarth Press.
I have tried to demonstrate that adverti-
Lapsley, R. & Westlake, M. (1988). Film theory: An introduction.
sing needs to be considered on a par and in Manchester: Manchester University Press.
continuation with other art forms in India and that Levi-Strauss, C. (1970). The raw and the cooked. London: Cape.
its dialectics within the Indian cultural context McLuhan, M. (1951). The mechanical bride: Folklore of
offer possibilities of developing an indigenous industrial man. New York: Vanguard Press.
aesthetic tradition. The intricacies of such McLuhan, M. (1994). Forward through the rearview mirror:
Reflections on and by Marshall McLuhan. London: MIT Press.
aesthetics is an area that needs to be explored.
Metz, C. (1982). Psychoanalysis and cinema: The imaginary
signifier. London: Macmillan.
Munshi, S. (1995). Images of Indian women in the media.
Rashmi Sawhney is a postgraduate research student International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter 5,
at the University of Limerick, Ireland, where she teaches two Summer.
modules on Media Representation-Introduction to Cultural Nandy, A. (Ed.). (1998). The secret politics of our desires:
Studies and Comparative Literature. She holds a postgrad- Innocence, culpability and Indian popular cinema. New
uate Diploma in Advertising and Communications Management Delhi: Oxford University Press.
from Narseemonjee Institute of Management Studies,
Nandy, S. K. (1975). Studies in modern Indian aesthetics.
Bombay and has worked with The Times Group in Baroda
Simla: Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.
and New Delhi. Her current research is on the politics of
representation of the feminine in the media of twentieth Neu, J. (Ed.). (1991). The Cambridge companion to Freud.
century India, with special focus on cinema and advertising. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Unnikrishnan, N. & Bajpai, S. (1996). The impact of television
advertising on children; New Delhi, Sage.
A Journey
Through
Four Decades
of Indian Advertising
An Interview with S.R Ayer
Harsha Subramaniam
Journalist, India
Until recently, Harsha was a Marketing Analyst with The Hindu Business Line, where he
wrote extensively about advertising, marketing and media.
Apart from being a journalist, Harsha is a theater artist and has been working with
leading theater groups in Chennai.
Indian advertising owes its initial growth Yet the role of advertising and its impact
to the growth of the media. Media options were on society was very restricted due to the lack of
limited to cinema slides, print media (news- indigenous production of various goods and
papers or magazines) and radio. Cinema, which services on a large scale.
was controlled by a single distributor (Blaze), It was an era where products were scarce
had the potential to reach an audience effect- and obsolescence was unheard of. Ayer offers an
ively but there was no foolproof method to interesting theory: Imagine you had Rs 20,000
check whether your ad was aired or not. Only in 1965. You could do absolutely nothing with
companies with a large sales force such as Brooke it. If you wanted to buy a car, you had to wait
Bond could physically check in every cinema for eight years; a refrigeratorwait for five years;
hall whether the ad was being shown. All the air-conditionerfive years. If you wanted to
others did some random checks, says Ayer. travel abroad there were a host of procedural
Print media, and newspapers in particular, hurdles. There was no internal tourism, no
were the only organized media business, which stocks or shares. What would you do? How
followed professional practices (such as giving much gold would you buy? Even property was
vouchers for ads published). The Indian Eastern not a worthwhile investment since you could
Newspaper Society (IENS) which was set up in pay the rent on the interest earned without the
the late 40s was instrumental in getting this capital being lost. What could one do?
business organized, he says. Growth in Manufacturing Base and
Radio, a relatively new medium, has a Government Control
fascinating history. Soon after Independence, Dr
Things changed with the growth of the
Keskar, the then Information & Broadcasting
manufacturing sector. This marked the second
Minister, packed the programming content on
phase of development in the Indian economy that
All India Radio (AIR) with classical music. Radio
influenced the advertising business. By 1970,
Ceylon, on the other hand, offered light enter-
the Indian economy had witnessed the birth of
tainment such as Binaca Geet Mala and became
domestic entrepreneurship in many sectors. There
immensely popular.
were new product categories, new consumer
Says Ayer, There is a story that when segments and new breed of advertisers. Ayer says.
officials of the AIR Research Cell submitted a I remember that I once calculated over 40 brands
report to the Government, they were in for a big of ceiling fans in the country, any number of
surprise. The Minister was apparently unhappy kitchen mixers, low-priced detergents and so
with the report which said that AIR was losing on. Yet growth was being stifled by the license,
listeners to Radio Ceylon. So, instead, of quota and permit systems of the Government.
Venkatesh Chakravarthy
Visiting Fellow
Institute of Developmental Alternatives
Chennai, India
In terms of the immense proportion of human lives lost and the unbearable trauma
unleashed, the Partition Riots of the Indian subcontinent, the critical focus of the film
Hey Ram (2000), is comparable to the holocaust in Nazi Germany and the aftermath of
the nuclear bombing in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Taking issue with the narration of
traumatic events of this nature, contemporary debates on the matter insist that any
attempt to tell the story of these or similar events will inevitably lead to narrative
fetishism. A pertinent question that arises about Hey Ram (2000) then is: How does it
encounter or negotiate the various traumas it addresses, the constitutive anxiety of Saket
Ram, the protagonist, or the trauma that triggers his quest or mission; the ordeal of
Partition; the disturbing assassination of Gandhi; and the suffering initiated by
contemporary Hindu-Muslim riots? For instance, what do the two friends Saket Ram
(Kamal Haasan) and Amjad Khan (Shahrukh Khan) do after living through horrendous
genocide on either side, when they so deliberately and yet so accidentally encounter each
other at the climax of the film? Do they share a prolonged and intense moment of silence
that could initiate the process of mourning?
My paper would explore these issues by reading the film along with its published script
by utilizing the methods of psychoanalytic semiotics. Unlike the typical narrative, it is
my hypothesis that Hey Ram narrates an aborted Oedipal journey verging on psychosis.
In that the individual psychosis and the infantile narcissism of its protagonist is
necessarily reflective of a wider cultural psychosis or cultural narcissism.
The question arises then as to what 2 Although in its commonly associated meaning the death
drive signifies all the murderous and destructive impulses
exactly is the nature of the central trauma in the psychic apparatus, Sigmund Freud specifically
addressed by the film. I hope that the foregoing postulated it in opposition to the life drive. Mainly to
explicate the resistance of the subject in deferring the real
analysis would have clearly suggested that it encounter both with its present day conflicts and the
has nothing to do about engaging in the inaugural trauma of subjectivity, the rock bed of
symbolic castration triggered in its Oedipal phase. The
necessary mourning work for the painful losses
death drive, which supports this process of resistance, is
incurred during Partition or contemporary revealed symptomatically in the Subjects compulsion to
Hindu-Muslim riots, and has everything to do repeat the same action, same mistakes or same symptoms
ad infinitum. On the one hand, the impossible trajectory
with an aggressive recovery of a hyper- of desire sustains the Subject in its search for an illusory
masculine Brahminical authority. That even plenitude that would somehow overcome its inherent
sense of lack caused by symbolic castration. On the other
after a century of challenge, initiated by the
hand, the agency of the ego-ideal (Super-Ego) by turning
Non-Brahmin movement in the region, the film the ego into its narcissistic object organizes its repeated
inadvertently reveals by its own mechanisms failures and subjects it to equally repetitive and reciprocal
over-aggressive self-reproaches to achieve narcissistic
that this historical loss of authority is still not gratification by way of unconscious guilt. As the
mourned but relentlessly reclaimed, and has impossible and vicious demands of the Superego could be
satiated only in an ultimate state of equilibrium or
found a fresh lease of life in the problematic quiescence synonymous with death, Freud locates it as
popularity generated by the discourse of the the death drive. Similarly, the drive to achieve closure and
Sangh Parivar. With the compulsion to repeat equilibrium in a narrative could be conceived as an
evasion of an inaugural trauma aimed at achieving
thus dominating the scenario, the possibilities narcissistic compensation rather than signifying a real
of a new beginning are forever receding. encounter necessitating mourning work. For more details,
see Sigmund Freud (1991:245-268 & 281-294) and
Jacques Lacan (1977: 123-202).
3 Such a moment of silence occurs in Kurosawas Rhapsody
in August (1991) when two old women, who have lost
References
Broderick, M. (Ed.). (1996). Hibakusha cinema: Hiroshima,
Nagasaki and the nuclear image in the Japanese film.
London: Kegan Paul International.
Doane, M. A. (1991). Film and the masquerade: Theorizing
the female spectator. New York: Routledge.
Doane, M. A. (1991). Masquerade reconsidered: Further thoughts
on the female spectator In Femmes Fatales: Feminism,
film theory, Psychoanalysis (17-43). New York: Routledge.
Das, S. (1991). Communal riots in Bengal (1905-1947).
Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Freud, S. (1991). On Metapsychology: The theory of psycho-
analysis, Vol. 11. London: Penguin Books.
Freud, S. (1991). On sexuality, Vol. 7. London: Penguin Books.
Freud, S. (2000). The Case of Schreber, Papers on Technique