In this article I analyse the role of photographs, generated in a participatory manner, in enter tainment-education practice and research. The main tenets of participatory communication as well as certain notable experiences in using participatory photography are discussed. Our experience with using participatory photography with listeners of an entertainment-edu cation radio initiative in Bihar, India, where participants combined introspection, reflection, and action, is then analyzed. Through photographs and their accompanying narratives, our participants drew connections between the entertainment-education text they consumed and their lived experiences, articulating certain ideas that were previously silenced. overlooked, or rejected. Often, inspired by the storyline of the entertainment-education text, the narratives called for wider community discussion, mobilization, and action. We conclude our article by discussing the potential and caveats associated with using this visual approach in human communication research.Keywords: participatory photography, photo-voice, participation, entertainment-education,. and visual narratives.In his work with marginalized and oppressed groups, noted Brazilian educator Paul Freire believed in the importance of creating opportunities for people to visuali their social problems and to use this visualization as a basis to stimulate collectiv' introspection, discussion, and action. The purpose ofvisualization -through drawin . sketches, and photographs -was to engage participants in their own leamin Singhal and Harter are professors in the School of Communication Studies at Ohio University. Chitnis
This study explored processes of social change initiated by an entertainment education radio programme in India, Taru, which led to certain socially desirable effects in four villages in Bihar state. Data was collected primarily in the form of in-depth individual and focus group interviews, participant observation, and the design and implementation of a participatory theatre production by the respondents. We discovered that a media programme facilitates social change by stimulating the development of social capital in communities. Social capital was displayed through the development of: (a) relationships based on trust; (b) norms of reciprocity; and (c) communication networks. The existence of social capital contributed to educational programmes for lower-caste children, the improvement of community health, the stopping of a number of child marriages, and the promotion of gender equality. We also discovered, however, that social capital can initiate forces of both support and resistance towards social change. Furthermore, negative social capital may contribute to excluding certain people from participation in pro-social action, restricting individual freedom, placing excessive demands on group members, and downward levelling norms.
This essay illuminates cultural resonances between two widely viewed forms of theatre over the last century in North India, Nautanki and Ramlila. It explores some of their common elements, relating to presentation style and narrative content, ones that are common to many other regional forms of Indian theatre. Throughout the twentieth century, Nautanki reigned supreme as the predominant form of opera in North India. While its popularity has diminished somewhat in recent years, Nautanki and its less commercial, more religious "cousin," Bhagat, are still staged, especially in their geographic home in the Braj region. Contrasting one Bhagat play, Sundar kathā by Ram Dayal Sharma, and the parallel episode in Ramlila and the Radheshyam Ramayan (a literary source for Ramlila) by Radheshyam Kathavachak, this essay suggests that these performance forms are deeply interconnected and spring the same cultural soil. As with so many North-Indian performance forms, Ramlila and Nautanki entail charming music, poetry, dramatic acting, and backstage coordination by many people in the community. They are supported by local patronage, and sometimes performed by local volunteers as well. These are performance forms that create strong bonds within the local community. Amateur neighborhood Ramlilas, with their rollicking style and colloquial scripts, are much closer in style and spirit to Nautankis and Bhagats than staid, ritualistic Ramlilas like that of Ramnagar.Devendra Sharma is a fifth-generation Nautanki singer, writer and director, who has performed in more than 1,000 performances. He was the first to introduce Nautanki to audiences in the United States and Europe, where he has performed extensively and trained many artists. He has played the role of Lakshman in an operatic production of Sāket, based on an epic poem by Maithilisharan Gupt, and Ram and the narrator in the Ramlila at the Parvatiya Kala Kendra (PKK) in Delhi. He has also assisted his father who has performed as the vyās (singer-symbolic director) at the Ramlilas of Ashok Vihar and Shalimar Bagh in Delhi. He has been an artist in residence and held visiting
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