Introduction

This chapter critically analyses and maps the trajectory of television experience in conjunction with the political and development process in South Asia. It examines how public is a construction, as well as a category, and how to approach publics beyond the conceptual markers. It explores the possibilities of contextualizing public in relation to television viewing and practices in South Asia. In doing so, the chapter investigates how scholars have imagined and theorized media public, television public, and some also public spheres. The introductory chapter provides a description of the themes and organization of the book.