Title: Indian or south Indian? The casteist roots of northern hegemony.
Authors: Chandrashekar, Santhosh
Abstract: This paper argues that brahmanical conceptions of India centered on Aryavarta and structured by casteist logics undergirds the hegemony of north India by provincializing the south and its lowered-caste inhabitants. I term this phenomenon northernism, which renders the idea of India as synonymous with a brahminized rendering of north India. Drawing from Jyoti Nisha's elaboration of Bahujan spectatorship, I develop Dravidian spectatorship as a methodology to analyze a Bollywood film as a representative text that elucidates northernism. I conclude the essay with a call to center casteism as a first step towards understanding different oppressions constituting Indian society.
Subjects: INDIA; HEGEMONY; CASTE discrimination; CALL centers; OPPRESSION
Publication: Journal of International & Intercultural Communication, 2023, Vol 16, Issue 2, p91
ISSN: 1751-3057
Publication type: Academic Journal
DOI: 10.1080/17513057.2021.1988134

Indian or south Indian? The casteist roots of northern hegemony.

Chandrashekar, Santhosh