Mallika Khanna
PhD Student/ Instructor of Record
Contact Information
Biography
I am a graduate student studying social media selfhood narratives and how contemporary neoliberal subjectivities are shaped and narrativized through proximity to trauma. My MA thesis titled “Desi Diasporic Cultural Entrepreneurs: Trauma, Self-branding and Self-Empowerment in Social Media Spaces” looks at South Asian diasporic cultural entrepreneurs’ self-presentation online to argue that diasporic trauma has become a hot commodity in digital media’s “first person marketplace.” My current work looks at food media and digital culture.
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Reviews:
Khanna, M. (2022). [Review of The Digital Frontier: Infrastructures of control on the global web, by Sangeet Kumar]. Information, Communication and Society, ahead of print, 1-2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1369118X.2022.2055487
Khanna, M. (2019). “The Neoliberal Feminist Gaze: Contesting ‘Female Empowerment’ Narratives in Contemporary Bollywood Films.” Jumpcut, vol. 59. www.ejumpcut.org/currentissue/index.html.
Presentations:
Desi Diasporic Cultural Entrepreneurs: Producing The Self Through Narratives Of Trauma And Healing Online. ICA. May 2022.
DESI DIASPORIC CULTURAL ENTREPRENEURS: PRODUCING THE GENDERED SELF THROUGH NARRATIVES OF TRAUMA AND HEALING ONLINE. Gender Studies Colloquium, Indiana University, Department of Gender Studies. November 2021.
We All Carry Trauma: Unpacking Narratives of Diasporic Trauma and Self-Empowerment In the Desi Diaspora. CRRES Research Symposium, Indiana University. April 2021.
Desi Diasporic Cultural Entrepreneurs: Trauma, Self-branding and Self-
Empowerment in Social Media Spaces. Common Ground Conference, The Media School at Indiana University. April 2021.
Desiness in the Digital Age: Investigating Social Media as a Site for South Asian Diaspora Interpellation. NCA 106th Annual Convention. (Accepted but unable to attend), November 2020.
IU India Studies South Asia Round Table, November 2020.
Desiness in the Digital Age: Investigating Social Media as a Site for South Asian Diaspora Interpellation. ICA 2020 Digital South Asia Preconference, May 2020.