On the Cinematic Representation of South Asian Women in Scotland

Bilgrami, Sana

Abstract

Despite growing awareness about a lack of diversity across the Scottish screen industries, there is little representation of ethnically diverse characters in Scottish films. South Asian communities appear in the periphery of Scottish cinema where films have predominantly explored narratives about white Scottish masculinity. In a cinema where female voices often struggle to be heard, South Asian women are virtually invisible except in a scattering of documentary and fiction films. And scant academic studies have been carried out on the existing representation.

In the chapter I explore how South Asian female characters/subjects are presented in a selection of Scottish films. I identify stereotypes that are consciously or unconsciously implicit in the cinema of a country that struggles to rid its cultural imagination of the shadows of colonialism. I investigate how complex cinematic representation might challenge stereotyping and allow for meaningful diversity in films.

Citation

Bilgrami, S. (2024). On the Cinematic Representation of South Asian Women in Scotland. In J. Morrison, & S. Pedersen (Eds.), Silenced Voices and the Media (83-100). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65403-9_6

• Online Publication Date: Oct 5, 2024
• Publication Date: 2024
• Deposit Date: Feb 23, 2025
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 83-100
• Book Title: Silenced Voices and the Media
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 9783031654022; 9783031654053
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-65403-9_6
• Keywords: Scottish cinema, South Asian women, Stereotype, Complexity, Diversity, Diaspora
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/4129123