Identity, Nationhood and Bangladesh Independent Cinema (Routledge Contemporary South Asia Series)

This book analyses how independent filmmakers from Bangladesh have represented national identity in their films. The focus of this book is on independent and art house filmmakers and how cinema plays a vital role in constructing national and cultural identity.

The authors examine post-2000 films which predominantly deal with issues of national identity and demonstrate how they tackle questions of national identity. Bangladesh is seemingly a homogenous country consisting 98% of Bengali and 90% of Muslim. This majority group has two dominant identities – Bengaliness (the ethno-linguistic identity) and Muslimness (the religious identity). Bengaliness is perceived as secular-modern whereas Muslimness is perceived as traditional and conservative. However, Bangladeshi independent and art house filmmakers portray the nationhood of the country with an enthusiasm and liveliness that exceeds these two categories. In addition to these categories, the authors add two more dimensions to the approach to discuss identity: Popular Religion and Transformation. The study argues that these identity categories are represented in the films, and that they both reproduce and challenge dominant discourses of nationalism.

Providing a new addition to the discourse of contemporary national identity, the book will be of interest to researchers studying international film and media studies, independent cinema studies, Asian cinema, and South Asian culture, politics, and identity politics.

Fahmidul Haq is visiting professor of Experimental Humanities at Bard College, New York, USA, and he has taught Mass Communication and Journalism at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh for nearly two decades. His areas of interests include South Asian Cinema, Critical Media Studies and New Media Culture. His publications on South Asian film and media both in English and Bengali include Cinema of Bangladesh: A Brief History (2020). A human rights defender and public intellectual, Haq’s online activism evolves around culture and politics of Bangladesh.

Brian Shoesmith was honorary professor in Communications and Arts at Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. He was also Dean of Academic Development at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) for nearly a decade. He is the co-author of Media Theories and Approaches: A Global Perspective (2008) and co-editor of Bangladesh’s Changing Mediascape ( 2013). He was a Founding Editor of Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies (Taylor and Francis). Dr. Shoesmith passed away on 30th January 2020.