As of now, I am
looking into researching the concept of the “untouchables” in India. I know that this is a bit of a challenge
since I am not specifically residing in this country but I believe this type of
“othered” community is an extremely potent example of what it feels like to be
outside of the “norm”. I have chosen
this group of people because I have researched this group on my own and two of
my good friends currently reside in India and I have talked at length with them
about the caste system. I think that the
fact that this system is fixed and that there is nothing you can do about the caste
you have been born into really fits this project well. I will probably look at
texts about the group and I will contact my friends currently living in India for
their insight into what it is like to witness this group of people
firsthand. I am hoping to use a variety
of sources: an interview from my friends in India, a short video or two, a
couple articles about the group of people, and possibly American reactions to
the “untouchables” by interviewing people here and asking if they know anything
about them. I think it would also be
interesting to link the “untouchables” to other groups in history, but I’m
still wrestling with that idea because I don’t want to take on too much before
figuring out how I can adequately analyze this group of people from afar.
Links that I've looked into:
http://www.ispp.org/jsc/blog/humiliated-by-caste-understanding-emotional-consequences-of-identity-denial
This source deals with the sociological and psychological effects of the different caste systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM85zVt6xCU
This is a video about the fact that untouchables still exist within India.
Links that I've looked into:
http://www.ispp.org/jsc/blog/humiliated-by-caste-understanding-emotional-consequences-of-identity-denial
This source deals with the sociological and psychological effects of the different caste systems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM85zVt6xCU
This is a video about the fact that untouchables still exist within India.
Hi Becky,
ReplyDeleteAfter reading your proposal I think you make a good case for looking at this group and it sounds like you have enough contextual knowledge to do the project justice. I do think, however, it's going to be important that you narrow your focus and what you look at fairly specifically in order to make claims that you can support through your analysis.
First of all, it's going to be really important that you are aware of who authors whatever texts you choose to look at. For example, are they by Indians, Westerners, Americans, etc.? So, in the examples you give I'm wondering what organization made a video because knowing that information will affect how we do the discourse analysis. You'll also want to possibly pick just a short segment of the video because otherwise you'll have way too much data is analyze.
Secondly, remember your goal is to see through your analysis of your chosen texts how "this group is represented to" the normal people." This is one reason I think it might be helpful to focus your analysis on either texts written by or for a specifically American audience. So, for example, maybe you could look at the website of an organization that intends to help this group in India or documentaries/videos designed to raise awareness about the group for Americans. These are just some ideas, but I think narrowing will help you a lot.