The production of the past: Tamil film history as a living archive

Hughes, Stephen

Abstract

This article considers a series of questions about the relationships between historical sources, archival practice, and the production of film history about Tamil cinema of the 1930s. I review the range of archival material relevant for producing histories of early Tamil film in order to consider how the issue of access to historical sources has produced various kinds of expert knowledge. What kind of limits do these various film archives impose on our historical research? How do these archives constitute their own historical narratives? And, how might we begin to think critically beyond these limitations to write alternative histories of early Tamil film? I argue that these questions are vital in order to remake film history as an ongoing, unfinished, and open-ended project that is part of the living present.

Citation

Hughes, S. (2013). The production of the past: Tamil film history as a living archive. BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies, 4(1), 71-80. https://doi.org/10.1177/097492761200483060

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2013
• Deposit Date: Nov 12, 2015
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 2, 2113
• Journal: BioScope: South Asian Screen Studies
• Print ISSN: 0974-9276
• Electronic ISSN: 0976-352X
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 71-80
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/097492761200483060
• Keywords: Tamil cinema, 1930s, archives, film history