ABSTRACT

When compared to the bombast of nuclear tests, nuclear submarines come with the relatively quiet fantasy of victory-to-come against neighbouring nuclear adversaries. Such political expressions are making their mark in Indian popular culture that hitherto had little commentary to offer on submarines. Outlets such as film and digital media on submarines rest on an aporia that resonates across the pleats and folds of secrecy and publicity: there is a felt need to keep covert underwater vessels under wraps, yet also an irrepressible desire to glorify the technological achievement and political posturings enabled by thesecond strike capability of a nuclear armed and powered submarine. Highlighting the tensile allure of both stealth and spectacle, the article considers the ways submarines make a mark in Indian audio-visual and digital media alongside the affective resonance of submarines more widely. By understanding their hegemonic dynamics, we can begin to raise questions about the ongoing nuclearisation of the Asian region and neighbouring arterial seas described here as the Asian seascape.

摘要

与核试验的轰炸相比，核潜艇带有相对安静的胜利幻想，可以打败邻近的核对手。这种政治表达方式在印度通俗文化中留下了印记，迄今为止，印度对潜艇的评论很少。潜水艇上的电影和数字媒体之类的插座都位于视孔上在保密性和宣传性的褶皱和褶皱之间引起共鸣：人们感到有必要将秘密的水下船只隐藏起来，但还有一种不可遏制的愿望，即美化由核武力和动力潜艇的第二次打击能力所带来的技术成就和政治姿态。文章强调了隐形和眼镜的张力魅力，同时考虑了潜艇如何在印度视听和数字媒体中打下烙印，以及潜艇的情感共鸣。通过了解它们的霸权动态，我们可以开始对亚洲地区和此处称为亚洲海景的邻近主干海的持续核化提出疑问。