Indian Diasporic Films as Quantum (Third) Spaces: A ...

Indian Diasporic Films as Quantum (Third) Spaces: A Curriculum of Cultural Translation

Thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Education Faculty of Education University of Ottawa

Thesis Advisor: Nicholas Ng-A-Fook, Faculty of Education Thesis Committee: Awad Ibrahim, Faculty of Education

Patricia Palulis, Faculty of Education

? Tasha Ausman, Ottawa, Canada, 2012

Abstract

This thesis examines narrative articulations in the films Bend It Like Beckham, Bhaji on the Beach, and American Chai as a complicated conversation in relation to biculturalidentity construction in the Indian diaspora. Unpacking the way "desi" identities are managed in/as a quantum (third) space ? one that is continuously shifting and deferred ? the films exemplify how "desi" is a heterogeneous cultural "group" without a homeland from which to speak or to return. The narratives of these films are considered cultural translations that expose inter-generational culture-clashes in the spaces between Indian and Western cultures. Screenplay pedagogy was used as a methodology to (re)read analysis of the films, revealing the ways that different movies employ and reinscribe themes of the multicultural pastoral, the carnivalesque, and melodrama, respectively. This thesis concludes by opening up some of the places from which individuals enunciate their desi identities, including the possibilities for (self)reflection.

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Acknowledgements

I would like to begin by acknowledging Dr. Linda Radford, whose daily encouragement, late night sessions, consultations, and suppers were the foundation for my writing. Your mentorship and friendship mean so much to me. I look forward to many more conversations, conferences, sharing of ideas, and of course laughter. Thank you so much.

My deepest appreciation to Dr. Pat Palulis whose deep and careful readings of my thesis helped me incredibly. I appreciate you holding your ground and challenging my ideas, interpretations, and theorizing. I truly hope to build upon this experience of learning from you in a future course, research, and/or writing. Your knowledge of curriculum studies and postcolonial theory ? and the way you speak of all the many books that have touched you ? is inspiring.

To Dr. Awad Ibrahim ? who I had as both as a course professor and as a member of my committee. Your ideas, encouragement, humour, and your work within popular culture led me to realize that it was just fine to study films (after all, "why not movies?"). I appreciate your ongoing support.

To my thesis supervisor, Dr. Nicholas Ng-A-Fook, for taking me on as a graduate student, and for your ongoing mentorship, support of my ideas and pursuits, and flexibility. It is an honor to work with you through my graduate work and I look

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forward to next steps into the PhD. I admire you and deeply respect you and your work. Thank you for everything. I would like to acknowledge and thank my mother, Karuna Ausman, whose journey from India to Canada at age eighteen has filled my imagination ? my sense of wonderment about what it must have been like to start a life in a new country, in a new graduate program, and at a new university so young. Your life journey is amazing and continues to grow and I learn new things from you every day. I look forward to sharing stories, travels, and times together. Your gentle encouragement and love mean everything to me. Thank you as well to my "little" brother, Jonathan William Ausman, for being at the other end of text-messages and phone calls, inspiring me with his journey through medical school with a work ethic second to none. You're the best.

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Table of Contents

Prologue: A Canadian Desi Generation

1

Chapter One: Introduction

Learning to be desi: em/bracing a journey

5

Teaching O/others: Three films

10

Research Questions and Chapters

11

Chapter Two: Theorizing a Cartography of Hybrid (Third) Spaces

Forming Hybrid Identities

17

Putting Together a Hybrid Identity

25

Third Space Geographies

30

"Mapping" Quantum (Third) Spaces

35

Chapter Three: Review of Literature

Third Spaces in Education Research

45

Third Cinema

55

The uses of film in Education Research

59

Chapter Four: Methodology

Viewing the films

67

Screenplay Pedagogy

71

Taking Note(s)

72

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