About The Rising Ballad Of Mangal Pandey Narrating The Nation

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Constance (Fachbereich Anglistik und Amerikanistik ), course: Bollywood, 21 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: 1.Introduction The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey tells the story of the sepoy Mangal Pandey who triggers what the film calls the "first Indian War of Independence" in 1857. Embedded in a story about the friendship between Mangal and William Gordon, his English superior, The Rising, I would claim, sets out to create nothing less than a myth of birth of the modern Indian nation - the mainstream Hindi film (Bollywood) is, after all, "society's biggest and most influential mythmaker". The Rising moves beyond the themes of generational / social class / gender conflicts of Indian popular cinema that are dealt with ad nauseam, but remains true to its 'origins' as regards the characterisation of its protagonists. It touches on questions of imperialism, colonialism and identity as well as, on a narrower level, friendship and morale. This paper will try to analyse the mechanisms upon which the construction of meaning within the film as well as the narrative of nation and nationalism rests - the assumed meaning being deciphered in another step -, concluding that the film moves in a space in-between nationalist ideas (and ideals) and a post-colonial struggle to de-colonise and "Indianize"3 the history and culture of the nation by creating a unifying, i.e., inclusive and exclusive myth of the activist (Indian) individual. The portrayal of characters of Indians and English is therefore paramount. To what extent the above aim is achievable by means of popular and traditionally colourful filmmaking is a different question that can only speculated about.

This book is about the production and consumption of history, themes that have gained in importance since the discipline's attempts to disavow its own authority with the ascendancy of postmodern and postcolonial perspectives. Several parallel themes crosscut the book’s central focus on the discipline of history: its intellectual history, its historiography, and its connection to memory, particularly in relation to the need to establish the collective identity of ‘nation’, ‘community’ or state through a memorialisation process that has much to do with history, or at least with claiming a historicity for collective memory. None of this can be undertaken without an understanding of the roles that history-writing and history-reading have been made to perform in public debates, or perhaps more accurately in public disputes. The book addresses a discomfort with postcolonial theories in and as history. Following are essays that examine the state of the discipline, the art of reading and using archives, practices of tracking the history of ideas, and the themes of history, memory and identity.

Broad in scope, this interdisciplinary collection of original scholarship on historical film features essays that explore the many facets of this expanding field and provide a platform for promising avenues of research. Offers a unique collection of cutting edge research that questions the intention behind and influence of historical film Essays range in scope from inclusive broad-ranging subjects such as political contexts, to focused assessments of individual films and auteurs Prefaced with an introductory survey of the field by its two distinguished editors Features interdisciplinary contributions from scholars in the fields of History, Film Studies, Anthropology, and Cultural and Literary Studies

Seminar paper from the year 2008 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3, http://www.uni-jena.de/, course: Black British Literature, language: English, abstract: [...] The main goal of this paper should be an in depth look at the character of the Muslim waiter Samad Iqbal and his fixation upon his antecedent Mangal Pande who allegedly started a revolutionary uprising in India in 1857 and was therefore executed by the British colonial rule. The initial analysis of the topic allowed the perception of an insufficient material concerning the scholarly treatment of Pande's function in White Teeth. Therefore, his representation through the characters perceptions and his role in the novel will be analysed. The initial point of such research refers to key elements of motifs and narrative structure Smith's; namely an issue of belonging and integration, the significance of (both personal and collective) history and one's roots. At first, the clear historical background, just as the role and significance of objective history, i.e. historic facts, would be analysed. Subsequently, I will discuss the role Mangal Pande plays in Samad's life and the significance history plays for him. Following this discussion, I will try to answer the question how other characters think and feel about Mangal Pande. In a concluding chapter, I will try to determine what the importance of this 'factual' predecessor to Samad is and discuss the importance of history, family backgrounds and cultural legacies for immigrants who are stuck in a crisis of identity in their new ‘homeland.’