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The Semiotics of Photographic and Other Female Representations in Colonial India, 1810-1918

The Semiotics of Photographic and Other Female Representations in Colonial India, 1810-1918

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The Semiotics of Photographic and Other Female Representations in Colonial India, 1810-1918
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<strong>CENTRE FOR WOMEN'S STUDIES, JNU</strong> a Seminar on <strong>The Semiotics of Photographic and Other Female Representations in Colonial India, 1810-1918</strong> By <strong>Dr. Tim Allender</strong> (Associate Professor, University of Sydney) Date:<strong> 29 September 2015</strong> This paper will discuss, with the use of images collected from around the world, how their meaning and visual literacy reflects, accurately or otherwise, the changing position of women of all races within the colonial ambit in India. Through these images the paper will explore how patriarchal and state mentalities regarding Indian women changed over time and how these images reveal often subliminal messages about power relations between women and men and between women themselves. Additionally, what these images indicate about the different learning on offer for Indian women and women of mixed race will be explored and how different classroom spaces determined part of this changed learning environment.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.