https://doi.org/10.67147/literariness.v1i3.070
The Domestic Panopticon: Interrogating the Third Wave of Neuro-cinematic Subjectivity and Epistemic Injustice in Bougainvillea and Kishkindha Kaandam
KHADEEJATH FARHANA T. A
Independent Research Sccholar
fara7606@gmail.com
Abstract: This research identifies and theorizes an emerging Third Wave of mental health representation in contemporary Malayalam cinema, characterized by a transition from clinical spectacle to neuro-cinematic subjectivity. Moving beyond traditional portrayals of cognitive impairment, this wave utilizes the Medical Gaze to transform the domestic sphere into a site of biopolitical struggle. Through a comparative textual analysis of Amal Neerad’s Bougainvillea (2024) and Dinjith Ayyathan’s Kishkindha Kaandam (2024), this study explores how cognitive variances, specifically anterograde amnesia and senile dementia, are weaponized to facilitate domestic control.
Drawing on Michel Foucault’s framework of Panopticism and Miranda Fricker’s concept of Epistemic Injustice, the paper argues that memory loss creates a “power vacuum” that is systematically filled by predatory caregivers. In Bougainvillea, this vacuum is managed through high-tech surveillance and medical silencing, transforming the home into a clinical panopticon. Conversely, in Kishkindha Kaandam, the vacuum is exploited through archival erasure and strategic silence, where the socalled ‘mercy lie’ functions as a tool of historical gaslighting. The study demonstrates how these films shift the audience from objective spectators to participants in a fragmented reality, ultimately serving as a profound critique of patriarchal governance and the precariousness of truth within the intimate family unit.
Keywords: Neuro-cinematic subjectivity, Malayalam Cinema, Biopolitics, Epistemic Injustice, Third Wave, Bougainvillea, Kishkindha Kaandam
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