A considerable number of popular postcolonial novels, TV serials and films are characterized by plot models which are based on Western as well as Eastern conceptions of happiness that continue to shape personal identities, ways of living, subcultures and cultures. In culturally diverse nations like Britain or India, notions of happiness influence migrants’ life plans, social and cultural expectations about “right” ways of living in relation to gender and ethnic identities as well as sexual orientation. In this seminar we will investigate the significance of different conceptions of happiness in a postcolonial context that often comprises migrant experiences. Seminar participants will learn to identify the conceptions of happiness (above all Utilitarian, Buddhist and Hinduist) represented in a British postcolonial novel, a TV serial and two films. Furthermore, we will explore the relationship between culturally diverse notions of happiness and plot models used in different media. In the course of this investigation, we shall examine whether these plot models affirm, endorse, criticize, question or transform the notions of happiness they negotiate.
We will discuss
Hanif Kureishi: The Buddha of Suburbia (1990) novel
The Buddha of Suburbia, dir. Roger Michell (1993) TV serial
Bend it Like Beckham, dir. Gurinder Chadha (2002) film
Slumdog Millionaire, dir. Danny Boyle (2008) film
Seminar participants are requested to procure a copy of Kureishi’s Buddha of Suburbia by themselves, a DVD collection of the TV serial The Buddha of Suburbia will be provided at the beginning of the semester. DVDs of Bend it Like Beckham and Slumdog Millionaire are easily available in video stores.
All secondary literature will be provided at the beginning of the semester. |
