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Graphic Retellings of Durga Mythology in Contemporary Popular Culture
--Sugandha Sehgal
According to Shakti tradition in Hindu religious and philosophical thought, the ultimate reality of the cosmos is an all-pervading female spiritual energy that fills the cosmos, a female manifestation of the Supreme Being—‘Shakti.’ With the composition of the classical Sanskrit text Devi Mahatmyam by sage Markandeya in the sixth century, the worship of the female principle assumed new dimensions. This paper focuses on the mythological metanarrative of the Goddess with the aim of exploring the curious intersections between Hindu mythology and a cosmopolitan modernity as reflected in a select few comics of the late twentieth and early twenty-first century India. Taking Anant Pai’s Tales of Durga (Amar Chitra Katha) as the starting point, the paper explores the modernist appropriations of traditional Devi mythology in three works—Ganesh’s (2002) Tales of Amnesia, Virgin Comics’ Kali (2007), and Priya’s Shakti (2014)—and shows that a serious comics culture has arrived in India, turning the comics medium into a vehicle for social dialogue and cultural critique.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Toward an Alternative Classless Society Through Comics
--Ena Dhankhar and Atikant Singh Bhati
Comics are conventionally associated with fun and amusement in India. A majority of the people consider comics to be meant only for children. Hence, serious social issues are generally not taken into consideration by the comic writers. A discriminatory and unjust caste system has been prevailing in India for centuries now. Autobiographies, memoirs, novels, and testimonials are often considered suitable genres by Dalit writers to convey their struggle against oppression. This paper attempts to show how comics can be used as a visual form of literature in promoting social and caste equality. Popular comics generally exclude Dalits and other marginalized sections of Indian society. The paper takes a close look at some of the comic issues of Amar Chitra Katha and a few other publications to point out such bias.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
“Not So Comical”: Tintin, Popular Culture, and the Othering of Spaces
--Nilanjan Chakraborty
The Tintin comic series by Hergé is probably one of the most famous comic series globally. Tintin’s detective sagas are as much a narrative of a sleuth in pursuit of criminals as they are a gaze into the cultural spaces of the countries that Tintin visits. And therein lies the scope for the readers to engage in a critical relationship with the author’s depiction of those spaces. Hergé’s delineation of Asia (Tibet), America (especially the Red Indians), or even South America is replete with cultural and sociological biases with racial overtones. Tintin as a ‘subject’ works by imbibing the colonial/White energy, journeying from the center (Europe) to the margins (non-European places). Behind the visual scope of engaging the children with ‘fantasy’ within a mode of popular culture is Hergé’s political standpoint of seeing the Other from a colonial standpoint, which can be critiqued, problematized, and interrogated through a postcolonial debate. This paper engages in such a debate as to how Hergé stereotypes the Other using colonial energy even when he writes within a popular cultural mode, with Capitalist interventionist strategy, to make his comics appeal to an audience who will consume the Other on the basis of “fantasy” and “unknowability,” thereby thriving on biased representation of non-colonial marginalized spaces.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Children’s Mind: Cultural Values in Chhota Bheem
--M Abou Raihan Rinku and Aju Aravind
Watching cartoons and animations is the favorite pastime of many children. In the past, parents and immediate family members taught moral values and cultural ethos to children—a role which is now played by television. Indigenous cultural values can easily be nurtured in children’s minds through popular cultural artifacts like cartoons. But cartoons are not just sources of entertainment; they also educate and sometimes feed ideologically loaded messages. Hence, studying the content of children’s television programs, especially cartoons, has become an interesting and challenging area in the field of academic research. This paper tries to identify the indigenous cultural values portrayed in the animated series Chhota Bheem.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Constructing Masculinity: Depiction of the Superheroes Superman and Batman
--Jonita Aro M
Masculinity is a set of characteristics, based on the standards set by the society, that defines a ‘man.’ These characteristics lead to what one may call gender roles. Various institutions like family, schools, and workplace reinforce the gender roles. One such medium is ‘popular culture,’ in particular ‘comics.’ This paper discusses the concept of ‘constructing masculinity’ and the contribution of comics, which is an aspect of society, to the same. The paper shows, by analyzing the depiction of superheroes Batman and Superman, one the archetypal superhero and the other the iconic superhero, that gender is culturespecific. The paper also examines the role of comics in the construction of masculinity and its contribution to imbibing and reinforcing gender stereotypes.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Autobiographical Elements in Maus
and A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories
--Anupama R
While an autobiography is the story of oneself, graphic narratives are independent stories—which can be fiction or nonfiction—that combine the forces of words and images. Autographics, in turn, is a combination of these two genres and enables the authors/artists to persuade their readers to see and believe in their memories of the past events, of their hopes and dreams, by relying heavily on images and words. This paper analyzes the autobiographical elements in two such graphic narratives, Maus by Art Spiegelman and A Contract with God and Other Tenement Stories by Eisner Will, by comparing their narrative techniques, style, and characterization. Both Spiegelman and Will are Jews and depict in their works issues which were of serious concern to the nineteenth century society, such as denial of ethnic identity to Jewish people, racial discrimination, disillusionment, and violence, portraying them through powerful images and words.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Sociopolitical Reading of R K Laxman’s Common Man
--Preetha Rewins
This paper proposes a sociopolitical discourse on R K Laxman’s Common Man. The pocket cartoons featuring the ‘Common Man’ made their foray into the Indian consciousness in 1951 through a daily comic strip called “You Said It” in The Times of India. The comic strip was an earnest attempt to encapsulate the myriad images of post-independent India through the lens of the Common Man. This comic strip achieved iconic status as it effectively captured the changing psyche of Indians, and the simple dhoti-clad middle-aged Common Man turned out to be a representative figure echoing the dreams, fears, hopes, and frustrations of the ordinary Indian citizen. Moreover, as the mute spectator to all the social, political, and economic events around him, the Common Man’s silence mirrored the state of vulnerability of the world’s largest democracy.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Exploring Comics: A Revisit Through
the Aesthetics and Educational Values Embedded in Peanuts
--S Muthukumaravel and Suja Mathew
Curious revisit to the comics through the ages makes an interesting study. Comics were once thought of as meant only for children or just for entertainment. There are those who are even now of the opinion that there is nothing to be learned from the comic section of a newspaper. However, this perception has changed over the years. Many have come to understand that comics can teach us, besides providing us entertainment. The importance and social relevance of comics and comic characters are increasingly being felt. Comic strips talk about everything—moral and ethical values, family, politics, gender issues, psychology, science, myths, valor, sports, and many more. This paper focuses on the characters of the comic strip Peanuts. The paper analyzes, through each character, traits such as emotional stability, social behavior, acclimatization, integrity, amiableness, self-discipline, and assiduousness, and discusses what we can learn from them.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Reflections on the Emerging Trend in Comics Culture:
Adaptation of Sholay into a Comic Book
--Benazir Manzar and Aju Aravind
Sholay (1975), one of the most acclaimed films of Bollywood, has been adapted into a graphic novel. The interpretation of Sholay as a graphic novel (2014) is the emphatic elaboration of the visual culture. The adaptation reveals not only the development and popularity of graphic novels in India but also the popularity of cinema and its visual effect. The comic book version of the character Gabbar Singh, the villain in the film, has been given a new look. This paper deals with the adaptation of the film Sholay into a comic book and its reception by the readers. The paper also focuses on the modes of visual pleasure and reflection of graphic narratives.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Transformation of The Adventures of Tintin:
The Secrets of the Unicorn into a Movie – A Comparative Analysis
--Madeswaran R and Kanimozhi T
Comics provide feast not only to the mind but also to the curious eyes. By providing creative illustrations, the genre voluntarily opens the gates to a world of fantasy; it converts the abstract story into a concrete one. Visual literature, in fact, increases the level of comprehension among the learners of a new language. Transformation of comics into films is a growing trend. This paper compares the movie version of The Secrets of the Unicorn, from the famous comic series The Adventures of Tintin, with the original printed version and analyzes the merits and demerits of the conversion. The paper also explores the advantages of innovations and stresses the need for preserving the tradition.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Comics as a Powerful Tool to Enhance English Language Usage
--P A Sarada
The key to successful communication is intensive listening and keen observation. A lot of English language usage, such as vocabulary, grammatical structure, intonation, accent, and interpretation, is learned easily by listening. New words and expressions are learned easily by reading and listening to simplified language, dialogues, and comic strips. The teacher of English should be judicious in choosing the comics because some of them with idiomatic expressions are difficult to understand. It has been observed that serious and adventurous comics are easy to understand than funny ones. Students who find it difficult to read each word and comprehend the theme in a passage or a story or a narration will find it easy in a medium of comics. Writing a paragraph, writing a set of instructions, writing a set of recommendations, and dialogue writing are taught easily by using comics as a literacy tool. This paper discusses how using suitable comic strips in the teaching and learning process will enhance the vocabulary enrichment, grammatical structures, and the language usage of engineering students.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Comics as a Means of Humor and Minimizing Classroom Anxiety
--Pranab Kanti Deb
Various studies have identified anxiety as one of the negative factors affecting the acquisition of second language, i.e., English. Anxiety is associated with feelings of uneasiness, frustration, self-doubt, apprehension, and worry. Classroom anxiety can be minimized if the teachers can create a positive classroom environment, for a cheerful and non-threatening environment encourages the learners to be assertive and participate in the use of English without any fear of condemnation or being ridiculed. This paper discusses how comics can be used in English language classroom to create a more comfortable and productive classroom environment. It shows how using comic materials in a communicative language classroom has many benefits such as low student anxiety, spontaneous participation of students, better verbal and written communication skills, improved retention, increased joy of learning, and a more congenial classroom atmosphere.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
Comics as Resource for ELT Educators
--Revathy Ravichandran
The origin of comics, a medium used to express ideas via images and pictures, can be traced back to the cave period when humans communicated ideas and thoughts using paintings and pictures. In spite of the many famous comics such as Asterix, Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, and Tintin, and the Indian comics like Amar Chitra Katha, Akbar and Birbal, Tenali Raman, Nagaraj, Chacha Choudhuri, and so on, which were read and enjoyed by many, it was a taboo for students to even read them, let alone use them, in classes. It was only towards the end of the twentieth century that comics gained acceptance within the academic circle as an authentic material that could be used to teach students, as they exposed them to real-life situations, the social and political scenario of the time, and the language that people use in their daily conversations. This paper discusses how comics, as an ELT resource, can be a great asset. They can help instill reading skills in students as they are not heavy reading and are fun to read. Visuals along with dialogue can be used to improve learners’ vocabulary, creativity, and innovation.
© 2016 IUP. All Rights Reserved.
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