A Multimodal Semiotic Investigation of Social Stratification of Women in Contemporary India

India’s caste system is a deeply embedded social hierarchy that is perpetuated by the upper-caste individuals, resulting in caste-based prejudice. This issue is often disregarded, in part because of how the media reinforces caste norms by playing a major role in presenting caste realities. This study examines how Dalit and Brahmin women are portrayed in the media through an analysis of movies, news articles, and interviews with participants from Dalit and Brahmin castes to also identify knowledge gaps. It advances the understanding in three areas: First, by introducing the idea of triple consciousness in the context of India; second, by examining the relationship between media representations and perception; and third, by applying multimodal semiotics to the analysis of three datasets of movies, news articles and in-depth interviews. The multimodal analysis uncovers disparities in representation, revealing the media's role in perpetuating caste biases, identity navigation based on participants’ national identity, caste, and gender, and knowledge gaps.