Abstract
The 2014 General Elections in India have seen an unprecedented blitz of media propaganda, which has, given the growing access to digital media with the rise of smartphones and cheaper computers, spilled into new media. With a general atmosphere akin to that of gladiatorial games, it is not surprising to find a slew of android application which encourages people to cheer for their favourite contenders. The run up to the elections has seen a prolific use of digital media, online videos, photographs etc, extensive use of social networking sites and so on. The paper will look at the digital media and games and try to decode how they are aimed at influencing voters. The contention is that rather in the spirit of the Roman gladiatorial games, which were aimed at shifting public focus from immediate issues and calm the populace, the new media blitz, alongwith the gamifying component has been successful in shifting focus to new age hero figures, ‘Mahayodhas’, and the competing policies and ideologies have been brushed under the carpet.
Speaker: Siddhartha Chakraborti
Research
Scholar, CES, SLL&CS, JNU
Venue: Committee Room, Central Library, JNU
Date and Time: 6th September 2014 (Saturday), 4:00
pm
