Abstract
This chapter surveys the post-millennial context of writing, publishing and reading Indian genre fiction in English, specifically Indian graphic narratives within India. It details the economic and political changes that have led to increased consumerism in the leisure market, which has in turn led to the growth and development of the book publishing industry. Issues of marketing and distribution through both domestic and global publishing houses are presented, with mention of how Indian graphic novels were commissioned (and nurtured) at HarperCollins India, particularly under the editorship of V. K. Karthika. The chapter concludes by discussing the specifics of post-millennial Indian graphic narratives and their invitation to ‘see’ Indianness through difficult or unsavoury depictions.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Chapter 2 discusses how we might define ‘graphic narratives’ within current scholarship. This volume focusses on Indian graphic narratives in English, although it readily acknowledges the same in other languages across India (Malayalam—see DC Books recent publications—and Bengali as examples).
- 2.
This has proven to be fraught with issues, politically motivated and otherwise; see recent (May 2016) media discussion: http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/twitter-rage-at-modi-story-of-modiinsultsindia-and-modiindiaspride/story-WKnrMOxyXEKhSfXx3ngLJK.html (accessed May 2017).
- 3.
The term ‘Indianness’ is used throughout this book. By ‘Indianness’ I refer to a broad notion of socio-cultural identity which encompasses (although is not limited to) the following: ethnic, linguistic identities, religious or spiritual identities, lived experiences within contemporary India—notably for this volume which focusses on the post-millennium era, historical and political palimpsestic lived experiences or otherwise, national and regional identities, community, gender and sexuality identities. Throughout this book, I evoke the idea of Indianness through the medium of visual cultures and in doing so present Indianness as a fluid, layered and dynamic form of being and knowing, and I look to explore this in the semiotic readings of the texts and artwork at hand.
- 4.
The presence of literary agents is relatively new to the Indian publishing scene as the publisher has traditionally always worked directly with the author.
- 5.
An example of this is Routledge. Academic texts which sell in the UK for around £70 are made available as Indian editions retailing at ₹595 (around £6 at the time of writing).
- 6.
At the time of writing (2017), HarperCollins is setting up in China.
- 7.
At the time of writing, Westland Ltd. was in the throes of being acquired by Amazon (see https://inc42.com/flash-feed/amazon-acquires-westland/, accessed January 2017).
- 8.
- 9.
See http://www.campfire.co.in/about-us (accessed February 2017).
- 10.
See http://navayana.org/about/ (accessed February 2017).
References
Baetens, Jan, and Hugo Frey. 2015. The Graphic Novel: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Casanova, Pascale. 2007. The World Republic of Letters. Trans. M. B. Debevoise. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Chandra, Nandini. 2008. The Classic Popular: Amar Chitra Katha 1967–2007. New Delhi: Yoda Press.
Chandra, Nandini. 2010. “Powerpolis.” Biblio, September/October. http://www.biblio-india.org. Accessed Nov 2012.
Datta, D. 2007. An Indian Graphic Novel. Biblio (May/June 2007). http://www.biblio-india.org
Dawson Varughese, E. 2013. Reading New India: Post-millennial Indian Fiction in English. London: Bloomsbury. (New Delhi: Bloomsbury, 2014).
———. 2016. Genre Fiction of New India: Post-millennial Receptions of “Weird” Narratives. London/New York: Routledge. (New Delhi: Routledge: September 2016).
Freitag, Sandria. 2014. The Visual Turn: Approaching South Asia Across the Disciplines. South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies 37 (3): 398–404.
Hatfield, Charles. 2005. Alternative Comics: An Emerging Literature. Jackson: The University Press of Mississippi.
IANS. 2015. Lit Fests Stimulated Reading Revolution in India: Literati. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/books/features/Lit-fests-stimulated-readingrevolution-in-India-Literati/articleshow/50340844.cms?from=mdr. Accessed Dec 2015.
Mehta, Suhaan. 2010. Wondrous Capers: The Graphic Novel in India. In Multicultural Comics: From “Zap” to “Blue Beetle”, ed. Frederick Luis Aldama, 173–188. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Narayanan, Pavithra. 2012. What Are You Reading?: The World Market and Indian Literary Production. London/New York/New Delhi: Routledge.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Varughese, E.D. (2018). Publishing Indian Graphic Narratives Post Millennium. In: Visuality and Identity in Post-millennial Indian Graphic Narratives. Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69490-0_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-69490-0_1
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-69489-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-69490-0
eBook Packages: Literature, Cultural and Media StudiesLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)