There is an air of deceptive obviousness about the idea of the ​‘region’. Inheriting a sense of assurance from long-established linguistic, geographical, and historical boundaries and contours, one feels secure in taking a somewhat simplistic cartographic view of the matter even as one acknowledges the overlaps and the blurring margins. But it shouldn’t take long to understand that the very use of the term ​‘regional’ may imply that a researcher has probably placed himself/​herself squarely at the centre, taking recourse to binary contrasts through a construct such as Bollywood or some other imaginary nub or vantage point from where she surveys the cultural margins, the nooks and the by lanes. What if one reverses this view to see things from within the region aiming one’s sights at the distant cultural firmaments? This is not mere wordplay but only an instance of everyday living! The real purpose here is to underline the plurality of stances, perspectives and viewpoints that may be applied for the study of culture. The ​‘regional’ thus may mean not simply a location but also a stance and a perspective to be made explicit and to be acknowledged.

Authors:

Bindu Menon Mannil, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru

Ratnakar Tripathy, Asian Development Research Institute, Patna