Indian Journal of Sustainable Development

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Echoes of Silence in a Cultural Vacuum:Study of Child Abuse in Select Hindi Cinema


Affiliations
1 Department of English, Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Child sexual abuse is a troubling and perplexing problem in any society. With reference to Indian social and cultural system it becomes even more disturbing because of the cultural vacuum around the same. The lack of terminology and unknowingness forces a child to succumb to silence. The article attempts to explore the evolving image of women’s representation in mainstream Indian cinema with reference to child abuse. The present paper has emphasized the need for a change in the belief system while discussing the struggle of women who survived child sexual abuse as it’s shown in the films. Highway and Kahani2 have been used as the primary source as the strong women characters portrayed in these films reflect changing mainstream Hindi cinema. The conclusion portrays the need to reason the disabling aspects of social and cultural belief system and their role in the development of a healthy society.

Keywords

Silence, Child Sexual Abuse, Films, Women, Trauma, Socio-Cultural, Reputation, Fragmentation.
User
Subscription Login to verify subscription
Notifications
Font Size

  • Azmi, S. (2013). For an Artist, the Resource Base Must Be Life Itself. Retrieved from http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/actor-shabana-azmi-for-an-artist-the-resource-base-must-be-life-itself/

  • Ali, I. (2014). Highway [DVD]. UTV Motion Pictures.

  • Bloom, S. L. (1999). Trauma Theory Abbreviated.

  • Chatterjee, P. (2010). Empire and nation: Selected essays. Columbia University Press.

  • Fontes, L., & Plummer, C. (2010). Cultural issues in disclosures of child sexual abuse. Journal of Child Sexual Abuse, 19(5), 491-518.

  • Ghosh, S. (2016). Kahani2 [DVD]. Pen India Limited.

  • Kitzinger, J. (2001). Transformations of public and private knowledge: Audience reception, feminism and the experience of childhood sexual abuse. Feminist Media Studies, 1(1), 91-104.

  • Sanjukta, D., Dipankar, S., & Sudeshna, C. (2011). Media, Gender, and Popular Culture in India: Tracking Change and Continuity. Sage Publications Ltd.

  • Sinha, J. B. (2009). Culture and organizational behaviour. SAGE Publications India.

  • Smith, A. J. (2002). John Donne: The critical heritage (Vol. 2). Routledge.

  • The Famous ‘Social Experiment’: 5 Monkeys and a Ladder. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.wisdompills.com/2014/05/28/the-famous-social-experiment-5-monkeys-a-ladder/

  • Webster, N. (1913). Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language: The Dictionary Proper Being the Authentic Ed. of Webster’s International Dictionary of One Thousand Eight Hundred and Ninety, Ed. Under the Supervision of Noah Porter... to which is Now Added a Department of New Words, Together with Many Valuable Special Features. G. & C. Merriam Company.

  • Wycherley, W. (2014). The country wife. A&C Black


Abstract Views: 289

PDF Views: 1




  • Echoes of Silence in a Cultural Vacuum:Study of Child Abuse in Select Hindi Cinema

Abstract Views: 289  |  PDF Views: 1

Authors

Suman Rathore
Department of English, Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan, India
Supriya Agarwal
Department of English, Central University of Rajasthan, Rajasthan, India

Abstract


Child sexual abuse is a troubling and perplexing problem in any society. With reference to Indian social and cultural system it becomes even more disturbing because of the cultural vacuum around the same. The lack of terminology and unknowingness forces a child to succumb to silence. The article attempts to explore the evolving image of women’s representation in mainstream Indian cinema with reference to child abuse. The present paper has emphasized the need for a change in the belief system while discussing the struggle of women who survived child sexual abuse as it’s shown in the films. Highway and Kahani2 have been used as the primary source as the strong women characters portrayed in these films reflect changing mainstream Hindi cinema. The conclusion portrays the need to reason the disabling aspects of social and cultural belief system and their role in the development of a healthy society.

Keywords


Silence, Child Sexual Abuse, Films, Women, Trauma, Socio-Cultural, Reputation, Fragmentation.

References