3 - Memory and Belonging: An Anthropological Analysis of a Goan Photographic Archive

Presentation Abstract
My presentation will analyze a photographic archive of Goa as a complex cultural text, interrogating its role in the construction and preservation of the collective memory of this Indian state. Situating the archive within the anthropological frameworks of visual culture and colonial studies, I aim to explore how the photographs embody layered histories of Portuguese colonization, Catholic hegemony, Hindu resurgence, and post-liberation transformations. Using a critical ethnographic approach, I will attempt to interrogate the intersection of visual narratives, sociopolitical power, and the construction of Goan identity, examining the photographs as both material artifacts and symbolic devices. This particular photographic archive allows me to raise the following questions: how do visual representations mediate historical consciousness and a sense of cultural belonging? How do these images negotiate tensions between tradition and modernity, religious pluralism, and transnational influences?