Colloquium Series: Jonathan Brunstedt & Akshara Dafre 4/14/26
The Burden of Victory: WW2 Memory and Soviet Power Projection in the Cold War
Sampling the Self: Queer and Feminist Hip Hop in Mumbai
Jonathan Brunstedt, Associate Professor | History
Abstract:
This presentation explores the transnational dimensions of Soviet memory culture, revealing how triumphalist narratives of the victory over fascism in 1945 shaped the Communist Party’s global ambitions and interventionist foreign policies. In particular, the talk traces how Communist leaders recast political unrest as fascist provocation, forging ideological links between wartime enemies and contemporary opposition. Over subsequent decades, this antifascist framing grew increasingly detached from specific historical referents, enabling its flexible deployment against a widening array of perceived threats. The talk concludes by examining how this idealized antifascist memory template clashed with the harsh realities of defeat and humiliation in war, most powerfully in Afghanistan.
Akshara Dafre, Ph.D. Student | English
Abstract:
This presentation focuses on female hip hop artists from Mumbai, India, to explore how hip hop constitutes a praxis of self-making for them in a cosmopolitan Indian city. I discuss how female hip hop artists in Mumbai rework traditional symbols of Indian femininity—such as goddess imagery and sarees— to recontextualize Indian femininity, traditions, and values where ideas that tend to be restrictive are now embraced. I also explore their strategic refusal of gendered and feminist labels, highlighting how this ambivalence is an attempt to shape the reception and circulation of their work. Finally, I discuss how these artists reframe Mumbai as a sonic rather than purely visual/cinematic city, also tracing how they claim space in the city, in terms of writing, creating, and performing in Mumbai’s public areas.
The Colloquium Series offers Glasscock Center Fellows an opportunity to discuss a work-in-progress with faculty and graduate students from different disciplines. Each colloquium begins with the presenter’s short (10-15 minute) exposition of the project, after which the floor is open for comments and queries. The format is by design informal, conversational, and interdisciplinary.
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