Television, The Middle Classes and the Transformation of Cultural Identities in West Bengal, India

This article analyses whether an increasingly globalized television culture has led to a transformation of middle-class Bengali cultural identities. The analysis is based on ethnographic fieldwork carried out with middle-class households in West Bengal, India during 1998–2000. A number of specific themes are explored. These include: television and rampant consumerism; the impact of ‘Bollywood’ film cultures; television and the portrayal of women; and the way satellite and cable television programmes, especially popular cultural programmes (e.g. music videos) and advertisements, impact on established cultural patterns and activities. The research shows that while a public, more liberal tolerant culture prevails in Bengal, the private world of the family nevertheless retains many aspects of traditional moral and hierarchical principles. Divisions of opinion about the social impact of television among the middle classes are explained in terms of the nature of middle-class cultural formation in Bengal since the time of British colonization of India. In light of the examples and research findings presented, this article broadly considers the trajectory of Indian modernity, considers the debates over high culture vs low culture in the Bengali context, and more generally explores the localized impact of cultural globalization.