Girl seeks suitable boy
Subtitle: Indian marriage dot com
By: by Archana Sharma.
Published: 2006
Language: eng
Number of pages: 271
ISBN-13: 9780494220368
Subjects: East Indian diaspora.; Hindu diaspora.; Marriage -- India.; Marriage -- United States.; Marriage -- Canada.; Online social networks -- United States.; Online social networks -- Canada.; Web sites -- Social aspects.
Description: This thesis examines the use of marriage dot com websites by diasporic Indians in Canada and the U.S. My primary interest is how diasporic Indians practice identity and produce community, and I see these websites as the loci where this is done. My data consists of interviews with 10 North American Indians and a textual analysis of two Indian matrimonial websites (A1 Indian Matrimonials.com and Shaadi.com). From one of these websites, I construct meaning out of 100 online postings. I examine the racialized positioning of diasporic Indians as the 'model minority' in the U.S. and as a 'visible minority' in Canada. I do this (a) to elucidate the 'push' factors that motivate diasporic Indians to seek other Indians as marriage partners, and (b) to show how the 'educated native' of colonial times makes for a diasporic Indian identity that is educated, male and Hindu-Brahmin dominated. I mobilize Brah's notion of the Indian diaspora as a contested, heterogeneous entity, one that is fissured along lines of race, class, caste, nation, and gender. I then comment on the on- and off-line marriage expectations and practices among diasporic Indians and the extent to which they represent a continuation, rupture or negotiation along these axes.What emerges is a complex picture of diasporic Indian identity in which notions of love, family, marriage, community and feminism have points of difference and sameness from Western and Indian notions. In this context matrimonial websites allow a fusion of tradition with technology in which there is a simultaneous opening up of possibilities within highly specific cultural constraints. I explore how hybridity and mobility have different meanings for men and women website users. I also point out the various ways in which examination of matrimonial websites can inform diasporic theory, such as the reformulation of 'Indian-ness', 'homeland' and 'community', and the polyphonic discourse made possible by internet practices.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-01, Section: A, page: 0358.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto, 2006.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-258).

Electronic version licensed for access by U. of T. users.