Izzat and the gaze of culture

Abstract

It is the aim of this article to make visible a range of hitherto neglected factors that contribute to the representation of the South Asian woman in British film. Cultural factors such as the law of izzat remain limited in theoretical frameworks, making the subject only partially visible. South Asian cultural identity is addressed through language, music, clothing and memory; each contributing to the visibility of the South Asian female on-screen. Using the popular British Asian film by Gurinder Chadha Bhaji on the Beach (1993) to address the current visibility of the subject, the seemingly simplistic identity of the South Asian female is questioned. The presence of 'narrative ruptures' contained within some of the material addressed combined with theoretical understandings of the diaspora produce a more nuanced understanding of the subject. Through postcolonial, film and cultural studies, an analysis of visibility has recognized the need to integrate cultural laws such as izzat into readings of British Asian and South Asian film. By illustrating the codes that have limited the subject's visibility, the once invisible will become visible and a new theoretical understanding gained.