The discourse of tradition and modernity in contemporary Indian culture

Abstract

This paper examines the binary between tradition and modernity in contemporary India through the use of film. It focuses specifically on the Hindu/Indian woman, and the way in which this discourse plays out on her body. I argue that the Victorian morality that the British colonisers of India imposed on their colonised subjects has affected the way in which tradition and modernity are viewed in contemporary India, and because of this influence, the historical concepts of tradition and modernity have been skewed. In this paper, I argue that the binary between tradition and modernity does not exist in the context of the Hindu/Indian society, but rather, the Indian society has come to appropriate these concepts to suit their culture.