A Theory of Media Spectatuals: A Case Study of ‘India Against Corruption’ Demonstrations

The notion of media spectacles is largely woven around symbols and a largely passive audience. It, hence, becomes possible to look at media rituals and media spectacles as a thesis and an anti-thesis in the Hegelian sense. The media events in the classical sense are, thus, seen as links between communication technologies and social structures. They connect ‘portability, reproducibility, linearity and simultaneity’ to ‘empire, church, nation and market’. The live nature of the broadcast is shaped by the dialectics of performativity and passive consumption. Unlike the consumption of spectacles, spectatuals require the active participation of the audience in the event. As the spiral gathers more steam, so does the broadcast. Once the performative involvement of the audience is lost, the broadcasters lose interest in the event. Since, by definition, the spectatuals involve the dialectics of pre-planning and unpredictability, the turn of events, though shaped by the contours of the pre-plan, takes an unpredictable turn. The centre, in our case the Ramlila grounds, the venue of the fast, is dispersed throughout the country, both through real representation and in simulated forms, which are diffused outwards. Contradictions between reverent, awe-filled narration for the protagonist and anger against the ‘common enemies’ work together in the construction of the spectatual. The function of the spectatual is defined by the tensions between integration of society and the clamour for symbolic change - the passage of the Lok Pal bill in our example. The dialects of powerful media and loss of control too are evident in our case study of spectatuals.