At least one third of India’s billion inhabitants regularly watch Indian soap operas, which have displaced popular cinema as the prime entertainment genre. And in the Indian diaspora on every Continent, Indian soap operas are a feature of life -- a source of pleasure, discussion and shared identity.

This book characterizes the forms of these soap operas and relates how they have evolved. It explores how they have contributed to shaping the identity of modern India. Initially developed by the national telecast service, Doordoshan, specifically to convey messages about women’s role, contraception and other family issues. Doordoshan also engaged viewers with serializations of the two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabarata. But with the onset of cable TV, soap operas became primarily entertainment driven and progressively more sensational. The book traces the impact of these different strands of soap operas and considers their impact on India’s dominant concerns: the search for national unity, identity, the changing role of women, and the ideology of consumerism.

"Soft Soaping India" is the first book to study Indian televised soap operas in all its forms and will be essential reading for students of the media and sociologists interested in India and its diaspora. It will also be relevant to Women’s Studies.

This digital document is an article from Russian Life, published by Russian Information Services, Inc. on January 1, 2009. The length of the article is 704 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Soaping your way.(Survival Russian)
Author: Mikhail Ivanov
Publication: Russian Life (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2009
Publisher: Russian Information Services, Inc.
Volume: 52 Issue: 1 Page: 26(1)

Distributed by Gale, a part of Cengage Learning

Ever need a fact or quotation on soaping? Designed for speechwriters, journalists, writers, researchers, students, professors, teachers, historians, academics, scrapbookers, trivia buffs and word lovers, this is the largest book ever created for this single word. It represents a compilation from a variety of sources with a linguistic emphasis on anything relating to the term "soaping," including non-conventional usage and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities. The entries cover all parts of speech (noun, verb, adverb or adjective usage) as well as use in modern slang, pop culture, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in many unexpected examples for soaping, since the editorial decision to include or exclude terms is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. Proceeds from this book are used to expand the content and coverage of Webster's Online Dictionary (www.websters-online-dictionary.org).

This digital document is an article from Journal of Australian Studies, published by Thomson Gale on March 1, 2007. The length of the article is 7573 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: The 'sons of Tricky-Dicky' and the soft soaping of history.(Critical essay)(Decade overview)
Author: Jim Jose
Publication: Journal of Australian Studies (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 1, 2007
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Issue: 91 Page: 33(11)

Article Type: Critical essay, Decade overview

Distributed by Thomson Gale