Paper short abstract:

This paper explores the phantasmatic construction of India in the European imaginary. Based on an analysis of recent European visual and textual representations of India and on material gathered from fieldwork in New Delhi, the paper addresses the cultural politics of such representations.

Paper long abstract:

In European public culture, India has traditionally epitomized 'otherness'. The accounts of the first missionaries' and of the British colonial administrators gave birth to the idea of India as 'land of contrasts'. The region's blend of poor masses, 'mystical' traditions and maharaja-opulence constituted a threat against European notions of rationality and moral and created the impression that India was too difficult for a European to grasp. The phantasm of India was born.

This phantasm has reproduced itself throughout the decades in the fields of literature, news, cinema, tourism, photography and indeed anthropology. Recently, however, it has started trembling. With the economic boom, a new image of India has emerged, one where maharajas, sadhus and beggars are still roaming the streets, but now hand in hand with high-tech gurus, call-centres and Bollywood stars. India appears, thus, today, as a kind of surrealistic vision blending future and antiquity. While apparently freeing India from colonial notions, these new contrasts, the paper will suggest, re-produce the exotic image of India as 'land of contrasts'.

This paper explores the contemporary phantasmatic construction of India in the European imaginary. Based on an analysis of most recent European visual and textual representations of India and on material gathered from fieldwork in New Delhi, the paper addresses the cultural politics of such representations. Enquiring into the continuity between the latest representations and colonial accounts it will also promote a reflection upon anthropology's contemporary positioning in this phantasmatic field.

The presentation will also rely upon the projection of audio-visuals.