From Picture Books and Comics for Children to the Graphic Novel: Tracing the Domain’s Coming of Age in India

Abstract

Since Will Eisner’s coinage of the term ‘Graphic Novel’ in 1964, it has been employed in literary studies with the objective of distinguishing it from mainstream ‘comic books’. Literary critics attempt to distinguish the two primarily on the basis of their readership. While ‘comic books’ have been perceived as pieces of spectacle and entertainment meant only for children, ‘graphic novels’ have secured a place for them within the canon of literature with readers of varied disposition. This multifarious readership of ‘graphic novels’ is assisted by the fact that while ‘comic books’ employed specific themes, narratives and representations oriented for children, ‘graphic novels’ have amalgamated these with genres and styles found in more traditional literary works. The surging popularity of ‘graphic novels’, furthermore, may be credited to their tendency towards the subversion of the traditional genres and styles, or at least the revision or re-representation of them. It must be, however, understood that ‘graphic novels’ could only emerge through the appropriation of the key instruments found in ‘comic books’. This development of ‘comic books’ and ‘graphic novels’, and their relationship with each other appears to be significant occurrence within the context of Indian literatures in English, especially within children’s literature. Since the early 1920s, a tremendous assemblage of picture-books and ‘comic books’ have become a part of children’s literature in India. Heralded by cartoonists like Pran and Anant Pai, ‘comic books’ like Amar Chitra Katha, Indrajal Comics, Diamond Comics, and cartoon magazines like Tinkle and Chandamama have become household names in children’s literature. Since then, these books have paved the path for new ‘graphic novels’ to emerge. Contemporary ‘graphic novels’ like Kari by Amruta Patil, Munnu by Malik Sajad, and graphic anthologies like Longform stand tall among the long list of ‘graphic novels’ which try to cater not only to children, but also to ‘serious’ readers. In fact, this emerging trend of ‘graphic novels’ as a part of popular literature has also attempted to diminish the gap between literature for children and literature in general, giving rise to a new genre called ‘young-adult’. This paper will try to trace this development of ‘comic books’ and ‘graphic novels’ within Indian children’s literature, and will also attempt to demonstrate the intricacies of both these forms of art within the course of their development.