From Sari to Gandhi

A Semiotic Reading of Contemporary India: Seema Khanwalkar offers an interesting mix of insights into folk culture, popularity of nano cars, digital identity of the sari, vagaries of the Indian middle class and the branding of Gandhi, to name but a few.

By Janaky Sreedharan

 Reading a long-term friend's work of a lifetime is to witness the growth of an old familiar into unknown but strangely exciting horizons --- far from where she began her journey almost four decades back. We are at once armed with expectations and a readiness to see hidden narratives unravel through the very act of writing.

Applied Semiotic Tools for the Indian Cultural Context, authored by Seema Khanwalkar, is a distinct  academic  enterprise  for many reasons. Published by the CEPT University Press in 2023, engaging you with a reader-friendly lay out, the work is a testimony to Khanwalkar's  deep association  with the  discipline called Semiotics. Thus the book charts the academic journey of a researcher and teacher, while simultaneously mapping the growth of a semiotic mode of enquiry into the cultural unconscious of a highly complex society.

This collection of essays comes to you in a tastefully designed book with a mustard coloured cover, on which the title is strikingly imprinted with  a blue-black flourish.

The author's involvement with the semiotic mode of analysis is not confined to classroom discussions or academic seminars within the  universities or other institutions of higher learning. She blends the theoretical breakthroughs initiated by the semiotic moment in academia with her practical experience as an industry consultant to many research organizations on consumer behaviour, thereby offering an interesting mix of insights into folk culture, popularity of nano cars, digital identity of the sari, vagaries of the Indian middle class and the branding of Gandhi, to name but a few.

Thematically divided into four sections, flanked by an Introduction and an Epilogue, the book escorts us on an interdisciplinary search -- rare, ambitious and fascinating.

The first part titled 'Performative Cultures' urges us to look a little closely at the inscriptions of social change in Goan oral traditions, the context-sensitive perspectives required to gauge the trends in Indian advertising, the tele-narratives doled out by Balaji films cashing in on a certain 'cultural complicity' and the Same Language Subtitling carried out in Behara, a small town in rural Assam. These studies are buttressed by ample field work and strong theoretical frameworks drawn from a vast array of cultural theorists, linguists, anthropologists and philosophers. The section also delves into the concept of the nano car as a symbol of the aspirations of the Indian middle class using an ethno-consumerist approach.

And the last essay in this part examines most relevantly the centrality of semiotic practice in making sense of contemporary Indian art; particularly in these times of massive expansion of the art world from an everyday household ritual into large scale  festivals, exhibitions and biennials.

The second part 'Notions of Space and Geography' addresses the urgency of the hour by trying to evolve an eco-semiotic world view. It focuses on the riverine landscapes this peninsula is rich in and tries to make meaning out of the intricate connections between the river (mythical and real), the oral narratives, and the vernacular architecture.

Khanwalkar works around the concepts of mimesis and rootedness to discuss the reciprocity between the human and the landscape in the designs of brilliant architects like B.V. Doshi and Charles Correa whose creations radiate a symbiotic energy.

I found the discussion on the palimpsestic quality in architecture particularly stimulating as it goes on to unpack the meanings of repurposed urban  ruins in all their historical layering. What drew my curiosity is the way principles of translation are slid into our interpretations of architecture; as a process where an initial idea gets "translated from idea to plan, from plan to building, from building to use, from use to interpretations by users and viewers".

The idea of layering is taken up most compellingly in the ensuing material-semiotic reading of the textile mills in Ahmedabad. The post-industrial landscape and its representational density unfurls here most grippingly through the micro-narratives around the area.

The transition of a labour space from a state of disuse to a site of art installations --- a sight common in our times---indicates the heterogeneity of meanings accrued by abandoned buildings and deserted areas. Khanwalkar provokes you to reflect on the depiction of ruins in other visual arts like films, paintings and tele-narratives along with the interesting interpretive possibilities they offer.

The segment on digital futures confronts the challenges faced by Humanities as digitality dominates all human activities. Instead of raising the routine alarmist complaints about digital malignancy, the author tries to propose solutions on the ground, citing stories like the Cleveland Historical Project.

We move on to a fascinating conversation on the digital reinvention of the Indian Sari as a living, breathing costume investing the wearer with a distinct identity and agency. The study has the potential to grow into a book in itself as it teems with suggestions regarding the communicative grammar of the sari, skilfully manipulated by women to convey multiple messages.

In the final section focusing on intersections of identity, modernity and nationalism, Khanwalkar tries to locate the semiotic challenges in contemporary India. It is a daunting task she undertakes when she tries to contextualize semiotic method within a long and ancient history of varied discursive traditions. It is a demanding  chapter that needs to be revisited with close attention to minute details. What is heartening is that the author tries to anchor her mode of enquiry within a discursive ecosystem powered by thinkers like Ashis Nandy, Sudhir Kakar et al.

Towards the end of the book, we are alerted to the currency of Gandhi and cricket as super signs which have been used to build convincing brands. The whole process of branding is redefined as a cultural spectacle built around the reinvention of the nation.

The last essay is a remarkable reading of Mulk Raj Anand's novel Untouchable informed by his modernist, humanist preoccupations in art and architecture as expressed through the magazine he founded -- Marg.

This book cannot be read at a stretch and is not meant to be either. It expects patience, commitment and earnestness to follow a persevering researcher's adventure through a difficult terrain. All the essays published here are reworked versions of the academic papers presented at various national and international conferences.

There is a sumptuous array of illustrations enriching the visual display. The result is an absorbing fusion of theory and practice -- one anchoring and illuminating the other. It is a tough choreography which Seema Khanwalkar executes with a certain confidence, conviction and spirit of joyous discovery.

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Janaky Sreedharan is Professor, Department of English, University of Calicut.