Producing the First Indian Cricketing Superhero: Nationalism, Body Culture, Consumption and the C.K. Nayudu Phenomenon

Abstract

The paper studies the representations of C.K. Nayudu in cricket news and other writings. It begins by analysing the reaction of Indians to his performances to understand how Nayudu, who was utterly disliked by his team mates, aroused popular fantasy, and exemplified and transformed the discourses of public culture more than any other contemporary sportsperson in his country. Then it examines biographies and newspaper representations of Nayudu to track the social forces that produced his heroic status and study what socio-economic ramifications such portrayals led to, drawing particular attention to how contemporary accounts nationalised his body as a stand against the European attributes of masculine behaviour. Then it explores why newspapers and advertisers used the persona of Nayudu as a cultural intermediary between production and consumption. It further ponders, in the context of rising middle class consumerism in Bombay in the 1930s, on how the news media promotes individual players as stars, dramatizes their notable feats and even their failure to perform, and turns the on-field behaviour into the bricks to build a market around the game they represent.