Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Introduction
This article attempts to survey the various artistic strategies used in the Indian graphic novel form.
The focus is on works that self-consciously claim to be graphic novels. These are longer narratives,
with a more ambitious scope both thematically and artistically. We trace the various borrowings,
appropriations, emulations and idioms and contextualize them in brief.
Conclusion
Though the diversity of Indian graphic novels has increased since the 2000s, they remain a niche
market in the publishing industry. None have been bestsellers. The quest for an Indian form of
graphic novel remains elusive. In popularity, it continues to struggle with other dominant cultural
expressions like the cinema and popular fiction. The future of the Indian graphic novel depends on
the gradually growing number of individual voices who must take upon themselves the task of
reaching out to a general readership. If not, they will remain little more than a sideshow in the larger
cultural sphere.
March, 2016