Qaisar Abbas – författare

This book unpacks the media dynamics within the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of Pakistan. It provides an in-depth, critical, and scholarly discussion of contemporary issues such as media, state, and democracy in Pakistan; freedom of expression in Pakistani journalism; Balochistan as a blind spot in mainstream newspapers; media control by state institutions; women and media discourses; TV talk shows and coverage of Kashmir; feminist narrative and media images of Malala Yousufzai and Mukhtaran Mai; jihad on screen; and Osama bin Laden’s death on screen, to understand the relation between media and terrorism. The book covers diverse media types including TV, radio, newspapers, print media, films, documentary, stage performance, and social media.

Detailed, interdisciplinary, analytical, and with original perspectives from journalists as well as academics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of media studies, Pakistan studies, politics and international affairs, military and terrorism studies, journalism and communication studies, and South Asian studies. It will also interest general readers, policy makers, and those interested in global journalism, mass media, and freedom of expression.

This book unpacks the media dynamics within the socio-cultural, political, and economic context of Pakistan. It provides an in-depth, critical, and scholarly discussion of contemporary issues such as media, state, and democracy in Pakistan; freedom of expression in Pakistani journalism; Balochistan as a blind spot in mainstream newspapers; media control by state institutions; women and media discourses; TV talk shows and coverage of Kashmir; feminist narrative and media images of Malala Yousufzai and Mukhtaran Mai; jihad on screen; and Osama bin Laden’s death on screen, to understand the relation between media and terrorism. The book covers diverse media types including TV, radio, newspapers, print media, films, documentary, stage performance, and social media.

Detailed, interdisciplinary, analytical, and with original perspectives from journalists as well as academics, this volume will be useful to scholars and researchers of media studies, Pakistan studies, politics and international affairs, military and terrorism studies, journalism and communication studies, and South Asian studies. It will also interest general readers, policy makers, and those interested in global journalism, mass media, and freedom of expression.

This book is about the four-decade-long struggle of political theatre in the post-colonial society of Pakistan, which started as a response to the dictatorship.

It is the cultural history of Pakistan that stands at the intersection of theatre, people’s dreams about a progressive and socialist Pakistan, political movements, the cultural intelligentsia of the country, and the neoliberal regimes of NGOs and foreign donors. This book explores some of the major questions about contemporary cultural politics in the country, for example, ‘what is the relationship between politics and performance?’ ‘What is the term “political theatre” in the historic, cultural, and political context of Pakistan?’ ‘What is the aesthetics of political theatre?’ ‘How does a cultural product make meaning?’ What do a political theatre company''s working processes and organizational structures look like?’ By focusing on the creative work of leading theatre companies of Pakistan, including Ajoka, Punjab Lok Rahs, Sangat, and Azad, this study is a unique journey into their rehearsal rooms behind the public stages to see how a theatre play is conceived, rehearsed, produced, and performed. It is the analysis of the aesthetical politics of these companies, covering all the stages of theatre performance from production to reception. Through this cultural inquiry, the book explores the themes of cultural activism, resistance, volunteerism, leftist politics, de-colonization, funding, NGO-isation, professionalization, and de-politicization.

The book will be of great interest to students and scholars with an interest in Political Theatre, Applied Theatre, and Cultural Activism.