Abstract

This essay is an exploration of caste and life narratives in the specific genre of biopics. Addressing itself to traces, absences, conjectural histories, and public discourse, the essay tries to understand an event of caste violence in early twentieth-century Travancore and its continuing relevance in structuring relations in cinema. It explores the impasses in normative history writing in the context of early cinema and argues how powerful counterarchival imaginations in cinema limn a counterhistorical narrative through the force of affective veracity.

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