Abstract
This investigation draws upon my earlier analysis of the Bombay blockbuster Fanaa (Khan ‘Nationalism’), transnational responses to Fanaa posted on an internet blog and on interviews with South Asian and Somali Muslims in Windsor and Mississauga, Ontario, two areas with substantial multiracial populations. I argue that although Fanaa's narrative strategies risk reinforcing stereotypes, they also initiate conversations about escalating tensions regarding citizenship and belonging among South Asians. The film emerges as a popular cultural text which allows transnational bloggers to use the anonymity of cyberspace and articulate hugely confrontational views, something they may do not in person. Moreover, as Canadian respondents view the film, it complicates the trauma of separation and dislocation which South Asian minorities, like other racialized peoples, face in Canada. Further, the respondents rework the limited repertoire of Fanaa in ways that involve ways of seeing which both confirm and challenge the Orientalist gaze as they re-imagine community in everyday practices and resistances.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.