Hybrid Heritage on Screen : The ‘Raj Revival’ in the Thatcher Era

Hybrid Heritage on Screen provides a long overdue thorough analysis of the 1980s 'Raj Revival'. It examines imperial nostalgia and troubled ethnic, gender and class relations during the Thatcher Era as represented in cinema and television. Conflicts in terms of cultural and ethnic identities characterise the increasingly multi-cultural and globalised societies of our time. In Great Britain, the 'Thatcher decade' marked a watershed in British society, bringing about important changes in the political, economic, social and cultural reality of the country. Integrating a methodical textual analysis within a comprehensive cultural approach, Elena Oliete-Aldea offers a vibrant study of the hybridity, fluidity and contingency of identity construction in Britain and explores how contested power relations constantly intertwine discourses of gender, class and ethnicity. Hybrid Heritage on Screen examines how the so-called 'Raj Revival' cinematic productions of the 1980s disclose the contradictions, fractures and inconsistencies of the Thatcher era. Due to its dynamic interdisciplinary approach, the book is an invaluable study for film and cultural studies scholars and students, as well as filmgoers interested in cinema as a social, historical and cultural product 'Interweaving the colonial and the post-colonial, this new book examines key cinematic and TV texts, as well as literature about the British Raj that makes it to the British screens in the 1980s through an engaging and nuanced interrogation of heritage and hybridity. This is a fine piece of scholarship that efficiently crosses boundaries from film and cultural studies to social and cultural history.' - Rajinder Dudrah, University of Manchester, UK 'Elena Oliete-Aldea provides a meticulous analysis of the British Raj productions of the Thatcher decade. She cogently argues that these highly popular films and TV series promoted a 'lost' British identity while simultaneously acting as a commodification of the nation's cultural heritage. Oliete-Aldea's valuable study will be of great interest to scholars and students of postcolonial studies.' - Felicity Hand, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Dedication 6 Table of Contents 8 Acknowledgements 9 Introduction 11 1 The Porosity of Identity Boundaries 17 2 Britain in the 1980s: The Thatcher Decade 41 3 British Cinema and the Raj Revival 59 4 'On Heroes': Bapu Goes West 96 5 History in Literary Adaptations 119 6 The Raj on TV 161 Conclusion: Cohabiting in Hybridity? 206 Appendix: Selected Filmography 209 Notes 212 References 218 Index 231 Front Matter....Pages i-ix Introduction....Pages 1-6 The Porosity of Identity Boundaries....Pages 7-30 Britain in the 1980s: The Thatcher Decade....Pages 31-48 British Cinema and the Raj Revival....Pages 49-85 ‘On Heroes’: Bapu Goes West....Pages 86-108 History in Literary Adaptations....Pages 109-150 The Raj on TV....Pages 151-195 Conclusion: Cohabiting in Hybridity?....Pages 196-198 Back Matter....Pages 199-227