Volume 1, Issue 4

Tamilnadu: Emergent Media and the Contemporary Documentary

Author

Dr.Swarnavel Eswaran, Associate professor, Departments of English, And Media and Information, Michigan State University

Abstract

Abstract: This essay engages with the documentary form surrounding the Tamil cultural

event of Jallikattu as it became a signifier of the mobilization of the

rebellious spirit of the Tamil people to seek social justice and lend their

voice for celebrating their cultural specificity. The contemporary digital

documentary aesthetics enabled both the cinema-verite inspired newsreel

coverage and later retooling the footage to cull out a documentary that had

a distinct narrative of its own beyond the sound bites of a television news

reportage. This documentary analyzes the work of the young documentarian

Dayalan who works for News 18 as well as an independent filmmaker. This

essay looks at how such a locus of Dayalan has been enabled by the new and

emergent media as well as his investment in the documentary's political

potential to address contemporary issues in the context of the

sociocultural history of a community.

DOI

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