• Reshma Jose

This paper titled “Noose around the noose maker- A study of Media Cannibalism in K R Meera’s Hang woman” explores K R Meera’s striking novel Hangwoman in the light of the exploitative sensationalism of the present day Indian media which perceives personal experience merely as a subject of news value. When a series of events serve to turn Chetna- the protagonist, into India’s first officially- appointed hangwoman, she is thrust suddenly into the public eye and undesired media attention. Thrown into a world of politics, bureaucracy and sensation driven media, the mechanics of subjugation surrounds her when she becomes a pawn in the hands of a quintessentially ambitious journalist Sanjeev Kumar Mitra. The predicament of having to deal with the most humiliating exploitation by the man whom she loves and hates at the same time becomes a reflection of the hyper-reality and victimization by the postmodern visual media. In an era where news is consciously created as entertainment, the ways and means of generating news shifts away from concerns of reality and humanity. The novel’s multifaceted portrayal of the way power shapes subjectivity and its insightful detailing of the scope for resistance questions the victimization of people and events by today’s media. This paper is an attempt to study the protagonist’s gritty resistance to the media cannibalism trending in our nation which in itself becomes a questioning of power structures and a revolutionary attempt to assert her identity.

Sensationalism, Power structures, Patriarchy, Commoditization, Identity crisis

"Noose around the Noose Maker- A Study of Media-Cannibalism in K R Meera’s Hangwoman", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no.980-985, June 2019, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907284.pdf

"Noose around the Noose Maker- A Study of Media-Cannibalism in K R Meera’s Hangwoman", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.6, Issue 6, page no. pp980-985, June 2019, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1907284.pdf