Portrayal of Indian culture in the electronic media : a case study of Impressions.

Abstract

The idea the South African Indian community as a homogenous has derived from the apartheid ideology of separate development. From the time of their arrival in 1980, indentured labourer has endured a series of processes that have shaped the deve1opment of this ethnic minority. With the determination to belong and endure at any cost, the South A frican Indian celebrated 134 years in South Africa on the 16th of November 1994.

In 1987, the introduction of a two-hour ethnic broadcast by the South African Broadcasting Corporation, to cater for the Indian community in South Africa seen as a means to 'satisfy a need' of the community. As a member of the Indian community and having some knowledge of the complexities of Indian culture, curiosity was awakened to the fact that can a programme of two-hours in duration accommodate not only the complex nature of Indian culture, but how is such a broadcast constructed to cope with the diversities that exist within the community?

This study will examine the way in which Indian culture is imaged in the electronic media. It will proceed with the assumption that no matter what the material or technological, position of ethnic minorities, or where they are geographically located, or what historical time they live in, their objectives and actions derive from a specific cultural reference that is different to other ethnic minorities.