Mother, I want to marry her, but only if you wish”: A Case of Visual Analysis to Understand Families in Contemporary Kerala
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12724/ajss.24.3Keywords:
Family, Enmeshment, Identity, Individuation, Film, Kerala, Visual analysisAbstract
The study suggests looking into culturally sensitive data sources like popular films that open a window into the social psyche. As an illustrative case, the climax sequence of a popular Malayalam film Aniyathipravu is analyzed using the method of visual analysis. The analysis is guided by the hermeneutic approach of psychoanalysis and by inputs from evolutionary psychology. The analysis attempts to explore the aspects of individuation of the son, female identity formation and the familial consequences of these aspects in the contemporary society. It reveals how the son is caught in the ambivalence of wanting to be separate from his mother and to be dependent on her, and how the mother is evolved into the cultural stereotype of mother-in-law. The study also shows that motherhood overshadows all other aspects of the female identity in the contemporary society. Study has demonstrated the use of visual analysis to interpret data from popular culture. It indicates the need to psychologically analyze family structure in the contemporary society.
References
Barthes, R. (1999). Myth today. In J. Evans & S. Hill (Eds.), Visual culture: The reader, (pp. 51-58).London, England: Sage.
Blos, P. (1967). The second individuation process of adolescence. Psychoanalytic Study of the Child, 22,162-186.
Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity, youth, and crisis. New York, NY: Norton.
Fazil. (1997). Aniyathipravu [Motion picture]. India: Swargachithra Films.
Appachan.(Producer), & Fazil.(Director).(1997). Aniyathipravu [Motion picture]. India: Swargachithra
Freud, S. (1928/1996). Dostoevsky and parricide. In Penguin Freud Library,14. London, England: Penguin Books.
Gokulsing, K. M., & Dissanayake, W. (2004). Indian popular cinema: A narrative of cultural change. New Delhi, India: Trentham Books.
Hoare, C. H. (2002). Erikson on development in adulthood: New insights from the unpublished papers. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Joseph, S. (2006). Psycho-cultural analysis of popular films in Malayalam: An introductory study. (Unpublished M.Phil thesis).University of Calicut, Calicut, India.
Kakar, S. (1989).Intimate relations: Exploring Indian sexuality. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Kakar, S. (1997).Culture and psyche. New Delhi, India: Oxford University Press.
Knbinoj. (2012, November 21). Aniyathipravu climax [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=JcbmdMtGwII.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1963). Structural anthropology. London, England: Penguin.
Mahler, M. S., Pine, F.,& Bergman, A. (1975).The psychological birth of the human infant. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Metz, C. (1982). The imaginary signifier: Psychoanalysis and the cinema. Bloomington, IND: Indiana University Press.
Minuchin, S. (1974).Families and family therapy. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Olson, D. H. (1999). Empirical approaches to family assessment. Journal of Family Therapy, 22 (4), 447-449. http:/dx. doi.org/ 10.1111/1467-6427.00164.
Rice, K. G., Cole, D. A., &Lapsley, D. K. (1990). Separation in-dividuation, family cohesion, and adjustment to college: Mea-surement validation and test of a theoretical model. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 37(2), 195-202. http:/dx. doi.org/ 10.1037/0022-0167.37.2.195
Smith, J. A. (2007). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods. New Delhi, India: Sage Publications.
Storey, J. (1993).An introduction to cultural theory and popular culture. London, England: Harvester Wheat Sheat.
Thomas, R. (1985). Indian cinemas: Pleasures and popularity. Screen, 26(3&4), 116-137.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2016 Artha - Journal of Social Sciences
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
