Political Change and Public Culture in Post-1990 Nepal

Cambridge University Press
Edition: Reprint, 1/26/2017
EAN 9781107172234, ISBN10: 1107172233

Hardcover, 296 pages, 22.9 x 15.9 x 2.5 cm
Language: English
Originally published in English

This book explores various domains of the Nepali public sphere in which ideas about democracy and citizenship have been debated and contested since 1990. It investigates the ways in which the public meaning of the major political and sociocultural changes that occurred in Nepal between 1990 and 2013 was constructed, conveyed and consumed. These changes took place against the backdrop of an enormous growth in literacy, the proliferation of print and broadcast media, the emergence of a public discourse on human rights, and the vigorous reassertion of linguistic, ethnic and regional identities. Scholars from a range of different disciplinary locations delve into debates on rumours, ethnicity and identity, activism and gender to provide empirically grounded histories of the nation during one of its most important political transitions.

List of figures
Introduction
political change and public culture in post-1990 Nepal Michael J. Hutt and Pratyoush Onta
Part I. Rumour
1. The Royal Palace Massacre, rumours and print media in Nepal Marie Lecomte-Tilouine
2. The Royal Palace Massacre, conspiracy theories and Nepali street literature Michael J. Hutt
3. Country of rumours
making sense of a Bollywood controversy Mallika Shakya
Part II. Ethnicity and Identity
4. 'Numafung'
images of Limbu culture in ethnic cinema Martin Gaenszle
5. Janajati magazines and the contents of the subaltern counterpublic sphere during the 1990s Pratyoush Onta and Devraj Humagain
6. Vote for Prashant Tamang
representations of an Indian idol in the Nepali print media and the retreat of multiculturalism Harsha Man Maharjan
Part III. Activist Cultures
7. Mobilizing meanings
local cultural activism and Nepal's public culture Ingemar Grandin
8. Protests, space and creativity
theatre as a site for the affective construction of democracy in Nepal Monica Mottin
Part IV. Gender and Resistance
9. Heroic tales
memoirs by Maoist women Kailash Rai
10. Motherhood containers
cantonments and media framing of female ex-combatants in Nepal's transition Seira Tamang
Part V. Heritage
11. Publics of heritage and domestic archives among urban Nepalis of the Valley Laura Kunreuther
Contributors
Index.