Food, film, and femininity
Politics of gendered foodscapes in postmillennial malayalam films
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24217303 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Arya Menachery Poulose (Christ College), Antony T Jose (Cochin University of Science and Technology) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-16 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-30 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Postcolonial Writing (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-9855 • E-ISSN: 1744-9863 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/17449855.2026.2728096 |
| OpenAlex | W7214957363 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 7 |
This article analyses the role played by private and public foodscapes portrayed in mainstream, com-mercial, Malayalam films (1950–2020) in which they either propagate or sub-vert the nationalistic agenda of constructing the “ideal Indian woman” as a singular stereotype. Based on Partha Chatterjee’s postcolonial theory of the public/private (ghar/bahir) division, it analyses films that connect gender and space through food, and the pro-cesses of cooking, serving, and eating as catalysts. The foodscapes are mapped in terms of role and location: as kitchen in the private realm, and tea-shop, toddy-shop, and hotel in the public realm. The article argues that on-screen visualization of foodscapes can affect the societal relations of gender, and from this perspective it documents the impact cinema creates in the collective unconscious as it regis-ters social change. It claims that, as cultural carriers of societal structures, regional cinemas contribute to decolonization of the spectatorial psyche.
Decolonization · Femininity · foodscapes · gender and space · gender representation in film · gender stereotypes · Malayalam cinema · National identity · Partha Chatterjee · Postcolonialism · public and private spheres · regional cinema · tea shops · Cinema History and Criticism · South Asian Cinema and Culture · South Asian Studies and Diaspora
| Highly cited | No |
|---|