| Summary/Abstract |
Music has played an integral part in defining the sense of self for Punjabis at home as well as in the national and transnational diasporas. The images of the homeland have played a significant role in shaping the imagery of Punjabi music, therefore it is self-explanatory that Bollywood music has also incorporated a vast number of references to Punjabi localities when representing Punjab on screen. This paper investigates the representation of Punjab in Bollywood music through a textual analysis of a variety of Bollywood songs that discuss the imaginary and real landscapes of Punjab. I suggest that the image of Punjab has played an important role in post-liberalisation popular culture in India—however, the exact nature of this image has undergone significant change. Traditionally, the representation of Punjabi culture was tied to poetic and visual images of the landscape of Punjab and was used to evoke nostalgia and a bucolic idyll. However, recently, Punjabi culture has been dislocated from the land itself and represented as part of a global culture of aspiration and consumerism.
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