Graduate Associate
helga03[at]yorku.ca
Master's Student
Graduate Program in Sociology, York University
Research Keywords:
Tamil cinema; Kollywood; diasporic identity; Tamilness; media and identity; transnational cinema; cultural globalization; diaspora studies; transnationalism; hybridity; belonging; cultural memory; transcultural memory; postcolonial studies; homeland–diaspora relations; representation and reception; identity negotiation
Research Diaspora(s):
Tamil Diaspora
Helga Rufus is a Master’s student in Sociology at York University with an interdisciplinary background in socio-cultural anthropology, sociology and english. Her research interests lie at the intersection of diaspora studies, media sociology and cultural globalization, with a particular focus on Tamil cinema and the formation of diasporic identity. Her current research examines how Kollywood films circulate transnationally and how Tamil diasporic audiences—especially within the Canadian Tamil community—interpret, contest and negotiate cinematic representations of Tamilness, memory and belonging. Drawing on film analysis, diaspora studies and sociological studies, her work foregrounds audience interpretation as a central site of meaning-making. Reflexively informed by her position as a Canadian Tamil woman, her research seeks to address the underrepresentation of Canadian Tamil experiences in existing scholarship and to
contribute to broader discussions on media and identity in postcolonial contexts.