CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE ON SCREEN: A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF SELECT MALAYALAM FILMS

Arun, R.

Assistant Professor, Department of English, UIT, Kallara, University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India.

Abstract

Childhood is a precious period in the life of every human being irrespective of caste, gender, religion and region. Films can be useful in articulating the central dilemma of Child Sexual Abuse to a large audience. Films can keep the identity and experience of victims behind the veil of fiction while revealing the essence and truth of cases. So here, this paper tries to analyse the scenes that are related to Child Sexual Abuse from the select films to understand how this issue is stigmatized in Kerala, even in films. The select Malayalam films for the study are Aabhaasam (2018) directed by Jubith Namradath, Amar Akbar Anthony (2015) directed by Nadirshah and Manjupoloru Penkutti (2004) directed by Kamal.

Keywords

child sexual abuse, social taboo.

References

Edgar-Hunt, Robert, Marland, John and Rawle, Steven. Basics Film-Making 04: The Language of Film. AVA, 2010.

Kamal. Director. Manjupoloru Penkutti. Dream Team Productions, 2004.

Nadirshah. Director. Amar Akbar Anthony. United Global Media Entertainment Ananya Films, 2015.

Reddy, G., Narayana and Reddy, Suma Narayana. Managing Childhood Problems: Support Strategies and Interventions, 2nd ed. Kanishka, 2012.

Salkind, Neil J., editor. Child Development. Macmillan Library Reference, 2001.

Stam, Robert, Burgoyne, Robert and Flitterman-Lewis, Sany. New Vocabularies in Film Semiotics: Structuralism, Post-Structuralism and Beyond. Routledge, 2005.

Vijayan, Prasobh. Director. Aabhaasam. Spire Productions Collective Phase One, 2019.

To cite this article

Arun, R., (2021). Child Sexual Abuse on Screen: A Semiotic Analysis of Select Malayalam Films. John Foundation Journal of EduSpark, 3(4), 12-18.

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