Seeing Shiva, Seeing Ram
Visual representations of deities in the genre of mythology-inspired fiction, an analysis of the book covers of Amish Tripathi’s novels
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12713669 |
|---|---|
| Authors | E Dawson Varughese (0000-0001-6337-4462, Independent Scholar UK and India, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2018 |
| Volume | 17 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 171-183 |
| Publication date | 2018-09-11 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South Asian Popular Culture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1474-6689 • E-ISSN: 1474-6697 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/14746689.2018.1510632 |
| OpenAlex | W2891944208 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 6 |
This article examines the manner in which Lord Shiva and Sri Ram are represented visually on the book covers of Amish Tripathi’s commercially successful Indian mythology-inspired novels. Through its focus on the ‘Shiva Trilogy’ book covers and the first novel in the ‘Ram Chandra’ series, I argue that despite the presence of the deity on each cover, the opportunity for darśan to be performed is prevented from taking place. The article makes a connection between this non-performance of darśan and the genre of mythology-inspired fiction, arguing that the latter is itself a textual portrayal of the former in that both the visual (of the book cover design) and the narrative content (of the mythology-inspired fiction) connect to and yet break from cultural and aesthetic traditions. The article considers in conclusion how such new modes of portraying deities talk to (and of) visuality and Indianness within the post-millennial Indian moment
Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Literature · Mythology · Narrative · Trilogy · History · Indian History and Philosophy · Martial Arts: Techniques, Psychology, and Education · Social Movements and Cultural Identity
| Citations per year | 0.75 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |