ABSTRACT
Exposing many cultural discrepancies, Deepa Mehta’s film Fire provoked conflict in India in 1998 as Hindu nationalist Shiv Sena members not only attacked and closed theaters but also repeatedly condemned and attempted to communalize the film for its “deviancy.” These events surrounding the film are part of the postcolonial nationstate’s complex histories and power relations. Fire illuminates how contemporary postcolonial and transnational cultural discourses articulate racialized, classed, sexualized, religious, and gendered forms of social regulation and normalization.
