DRAWING IS A WAY OF FIGHTING: THE COMICS OF THE INDIGENOUS INDIA

Abstract

The tribal arts of India have traditionally held a significant cultural and historical place. Despite the unique visual languages seen in contemporary American or Franco-Belgian BD and Japanese manga, the Indian tribal art, predominantly created by tribal women for generations, is often neglected in the context of Indian comics. This study aims to examine the visual language inherent in tribal art and how it has been employed in two specific comics: Sita`s Ramayana and Bhimayana. Both comics are drawn by tribal women, Moyna Chitrakar and Durga Bai Vyam, respectively, and showcase a unique visual language in Indian comics. These styles bring to light issues related to the ‘other’, such as casteism and reservations, and challenge patriarchal narratives through an ecofeminist perspective. Being in part a distinct language in comics- these styles are not that much noticed in popular culture of the mainstream for that matter. This paper asserts how artists of these specific tribes have moulded the language of comics in a way to be able to speak for themselves while using their own methods at disposal. This paper also tries to probe whether this is just a symbolic resistance forged by the publishing houses to exploit the women artists from the Indian tribal communities as a machinery to provide for a new taste to the Urban audience. All in all, this article tries to locate the portrayal of social and political issues raised in the comics of the marginal gender, from the marginal communities.