Graphic narratives as history

The emergency period (1975– 1977) in Vishwajyoti Ghosh’s Delhi Calm

Bibliographic Data

ID22003261
AuthorsSohini Bera (0000-0001-9459-7941, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad, corresponding author), Rajni Singh (0000-0002-1569-8339, Indian Institute of Technology Dhanbad)
Year2023
Volume14
Issue2
Pages262-286
Publication date2023-03-04
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Graphic Novels & Comics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2150-4857 • E-ISSN: 2150-4865
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/21504857.2022.2074068
OpenAlexW4280521555
LanguageEN
References cited25

Vishwajyoti Ghosh’s graphic narrative Delhi Calm captures one of the most serious episodes in the history of India, in the graphic narrative form, a purportedly non-serious medium. This paper focuses on the national Emergency declared on the recommendation of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and its representation in Delhi Calm. The paper discusses how unlike the traditional modes of representation of historical events, the graphic medium acknowledges and highlights the constructed and mediated nature of the narrative, thereby foregrounding the author’s role in the representative process. It also scrutinises how the medium engages readers in unique ways towards a reading of history and, therefore, has the potential for democratising history. Furthermore, it examines the various strategies and tropes that are employed to reconceptualise the past and scrutinises how contrasting narratives are included to present a multi-dimensional idea of the historical events, generating a proliferation of meaning and thereby resisting the superiority of any single meaning or grand narrative

Aesthetics · Art · Epistemology · Foregrounding · Literature · Media studies · Narrative · Narrative history · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Visual arts · Comics and Graphic Narratives · Digital Storytelling and Education · History · Law · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOI