This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of Bangladeshi films’ representational strategies used in reinforcing Muslim hegemonism. It shows how cinema screens have been used in the state’s politics of marginalization of minority religious communities using Pita, a liberation war-themed Bangladeshi fiction movie as an example. With reference to the liberation war of Bangladesh (1971), Pita has used the marker of hegemonic masculinity as a Muslim masculine icon who turns out to be the saviour of the nation constructing Hindus as the Other. This paper has chosen Pita following the purposive selection method for its’ unorthodox representation in the film history of Bangladesh in addressing minority agendas. Drawing on Stuart Hall’s cultural representation theory, this paper examines trends and practices used in representation that downplay the minority religious community’s agency. Despite being a Muslim-majority country, Bangladesh fought the liberation war based on the spirit of secularism against Muslim-dominated Pakistan. However, the country has gone through Islamic revivalism over time rendering different religious communities as the Other. This paper argues that Pita participates in the state’s politics in strengthening the ‘power’ of Muslims in two ways: first, the film uses the war spirit by imaging masculine power of a Muslim hero snubbing the Hindu religious community’s agency; second, as a tier of cultural elite institutions, it uses the cinema platform to collaborate with the state by reinforcing the existing religious and racialized hierarchical ordering.

Authors:
Afroza Bulbul, Erasmus University, Netherlands

About the Presenter(s)
Afroza Bulbul teaches Mass Communication and Journalism at the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Currently, she is doing her Ph.D. at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS, The Hague) of Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

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http://www.linkedin.com/in/afroza-bulbul-11a508208

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