Troubling the National Brand and Voicing Hidden Histories: Historical Drama as a tool for International Development and Community Empowerment

该试点项目的目的是支持巴西、印度和南非的特定边缘化社区，通过“国家品牌”和其他“软实力”举措，挑战这些国家向世界展示自己的方式。在这样做的过程中，该项目力求在国内和国际上提高对这些社区在社会中不稳定地位的认识，并支持他们开展运动，改变他们的生活。该项目的特别重点将是为大屏幕和小屏幕制作的历史剧在“国家品牌”活动中经常占有的特权地位。从《唐顿修道院》在英国公共外交倡议中的工具化到宝莱坞历史史诗《乔达·阿克巴》所扮演的角色（Ashutosh Gowariker，2008年）在吸引非居民印度人投资的活动中，历史剧经常被认为是国家国际投影的绝佳工具，允许精英们有效地传达“国家战略叙事”中的关键信息，这些信息被认为是软实力杠杆的核心。我们的项目将研究这类戏剧在三个官方发展援助受援国所发挥的作用，这些国家被许多评论家认为是“全球南方”更广泛发展的核心。虽然它们都是金砖国家集团的成员，但它们都处于非常不同的发展阶段。这三个国家都与其殖民地历史有着复杂的关系，在每一个案例中，这段历史在当今的国家建设中扮演着独特的角色。该项目将开始调查这三个国家如何将其历史作为“软实力”战略中的重要资产，特别关注每个国家的电影工具化。然后，该项目将与国际发展机构合作，探讨这些社会中一些最边缘化的群体如何经历这些国家叙事。在南非，我们将与西蒙主教信托基金会合作，支持“无证儿童”团体挑战国家的“过渡”故事。在印度，我们将与Budhan Theatre/Nomad Films和“被剥夺部落权利行动小组”（DNT RAG）合作，探索印度西部城市中这些前“犯罪部落”社区的历史困境。在巴西，我们将与国际计划和来自Codó（马拉尼昂）的年轻人合作，Codó是巴西幸存的逃亡黑奴或“栗色社区”之一。通过共同制作的过程，我们将制作一系列视频，由这些团体回应他们向世界展示自己国家历史的方式。录像的目的是支持这些群体反思他们在社会中的地位，使他们能够通过学习我们其他案例研究的经验，将他们的斗争置于全球背景中，并开展提高认识的运动。在此过程中，该项目响应了这一呼吁的几个方面，支持边缘化社区表达“地方和国家故事中没有的隐藏历史”。它还将探索“创造性实践作为国际发展和跨文化交流工具的潜力”。然而，最重要的是，它将涉及“沉默，无知和健忘的问题”，以挑战我们将与之合作的三个社区的“声音贫困”和“社会排斥”。在此过程中，该项目还将促进“翻译文化”和“关心未来”的发展，为“反思翻译的载体”（叙事、表演和其他文化艺术品）和跨文化交流提供机会。此外，它将与我们的外部伙伴合作，探索如何利用历史叙事来改变弱势社区的生活。

The aim of this pilot project is to support specific marginalised communities in Brazil, India and South Africa to challenge the way these nations present themselves to the world via 'nation branding' and other 'soft power' initiatives. In so doing, the project seeks to raise awareness nationally and internationally of these communities' precarious place in society and to support them in campaigning to effect change in their lives. The particular focus of the project will be on the privileged place historical dramas made for the large and small screen frequently have in 'nation-branding' exercises. From the instrumentalisation of Downton Abbey within public diplomacy initiatives in the UK to the role played by the Bollywood historical epic Jodhaa Akbar (Ashutosh Gowariker, 2008) in campaigns to attract investment from non-resident Indians, historical dramas are frequently considered to be excellent vehicles for the international projection of the nation, allowing elites to communicate effectively the key messages in the 'national strategic narrative' that are considered to be central to the leverage of soft power. Our project will look at the role such dramas play in three ODA recipient countries that are considered by many commentators to be central to the broader development of the 'global South'. Although all are members of the BRICS grouping, all are at very different stages in their development. All have complex relationships to their colonial pasts and, in each case, this past plays a distinctive role in the present-day construction of the nation.The project will begin with an investigation of how all three nations use their history as an important asset within their 'soft power' strategies, focussing in particular on the instrumentalisation of film in each country. The project will then work with international development agencies to explore how these national narratives are experienced by some of the most marginalised groups within these societies. In South Africa, we will work with the Bishop Simeon Trust to support groups of 'undocumented children' to challenge the national story of 'transition'. In India we will work with Budhan Theatre/Nomad Films and with the 'Denotified Tribes Rights Action Group' (DNT RAG) to explore the historical predicament of these ex-'Criminal Tribe' communities in the cities of western India. In Brazil, we will work with Plan International and young people from Codó (Maranhão), one of Brazil's surviving quilombos or 'maroon communities'. Through a process of co-production we will make a series of video responses by these groups to the way their nations' histories are presented to the world. The purpose of the videos will be to support these groups to reflect upon their place in society, allowing them to contextualize their struggles globally by learning from the experience of our other case studies, and to develop awareness-raising campaigns. In the process, this project responds to several strands in this call, supporting marginalized communities to voice 'hidden histories' that 'have been absent from the representation of local and national stories'. It will also explore 'the potential of creative practice as a tool for international development and intercultural communication'. However, most significantly it will engage 'with questions of silence, voicelessness and amnesia', in order to challenge 'voice poverty' within, and the 'social exclusion' of, the three communities with which we will be working. In the process the project will also contribute to the development of both Translating Cultures and Care for the Future, providing opportunities for 'reflection on the vehicles of translation' (narratives, performances and other cultural artefacts) and intercultural exchange. In addition, it will work with our external partners to explore the way historical narratives can be used to effect change in the lives of vulnerable communities.