Tamil talk shows: Maintaining tradition in the new public sphere

Abstract

The popular Indian television talk show, Neeya? Naana? ( You? or Me?), offers a public platform for open discussion of important issues facing citizens in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Through its inclusive nature and open discussion format, the programme demonstrates the gendered involvement of citizens from all sections of society, including the socially disadvantaged castes and classes. While this suggests that Indian television provides a new site for an emerging public sphere, we contend that the public sphere in India can be historicized to the third millennium BC. In our analysis of Neeya? Naana?, we establish a relationship between Habermasian notions of the public sphere, India’s argumentative tradition and the ancient Sangam literature of South India. We further interrogate the concept of the public sphere by asserting that while India’s television talk shows offer the suggestion of an open democratic forum, they instead reinforce conservative cultural values.

Let There Be Clamor: Exploring the Emergence of a New Public Sphere in India and Use of Social Media as an Instrument of Activism

“…Studies have tried to divide the understanding of public sphere in India into two halves—the precolonial and the postcolonial era, the latter being heavily influenced by the European ideation of the public sphere (Belair-Gagnon et al., 2013; Kaviraj, 1997; Piliavsky, 2013). Pongiyannan and Pugsley (2016) in their article traced the Indian public sphere back to the third millennium BC by exploring the Tamil literature from the Sangam era. They further analyzed the argumentative tradition of India as examined by Amartya Sen in his work The Argumentative Indian: Writings in Indian Culture, History and Identity (2005).…”