Hybrid Subalternity: Minorities in Indian Art and Cinema

Abstract This chapter critically interrogates the multifaceted representations of minorities in Indian art, literature, and cinema, emphasizing their role in both perpetuating and challenging socio-cultural marginalization. Employing postcolonial and subaltern theoretical lenses, including updates from Homi K. Bhabha's concept of hybridity and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's evolving discourse on subaltern agency, the analysis dissects key texts. These include Mahasweta Devi's "Draupadi" (1997), Shyam Benegal's Ankur (1974), Pa. Ranjith's Kaala (2018), and Bhuri Bai's tribal paintings (2020s). The analysis also extends to recent Bollywood portrayals of religious and transgender minorities, as seen in films like Dhadak 2 (2025). The chapter posits that while these narratives successfully forge counter-hegemonic spaces, they are invariably mediated by dominant aesthetics and neoliberal market dynamics, thereby constraining their radical potential. By drawing global parallels with African and Latin American indigenous literatures—such as Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's Decolonising the Mind (1986) and Rigoberta Menchú's I, Rigoberta Menchú (1983)—this study highlights the transnational resonance of Indian minority discourses. Ultimately, this research contributes a novel framework, "Hybrid Subalternity," to a decolonized global humanities.