July 05, 2006
Indian Science Fiction and Fantasy, According to Samit BasuLiterature
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Since Ennis mentioned superheroes, I wanted to point out that Samit Basu has put together a wonderful series of essays and interviews on the subject of contemporary Indian speculative fiction (“speculative fiction” is an umbrella term, which includes sci-fi, fantasy, horror, and alternative history).
It’s really a small encyclopedia rather than a blog post, so here are a couple of pointers to start you off. First and foremost, Samit deals with the question of Indian speculative fiction in the context of the recent flourishing of “literary” Indian Writing in English here. He deals with the question of “authentic” Indian superheroes (as opposed to the bad, but familiar, ripoffs of western superheroes) here. Both are highly recommended links. Basu also gets into some questions about the publishing industry and the current dominance of diasporic writers here, though that may be of interest more to people interested in publishing questions.
On the definitional and generic question, the highlight of Basu’s essay are the following paragraphs:
This set of essays, however, is fundamentally flawed on many levels - it is about a nascent, hard-to-define sub-section of literature, the as-yet-mostly-nonexistent sub-genre of Indian speculative fiction in English, which is itself a bastard child of two parents who, not being dead, are difficult to analyze as they are not only infinitely complex at any point, but, to complicate things further, change all the time as well. … (link)
Note that the “two parents” are Indian Writing in English and Western speculative fiction. To continue:
What is Indian/South Asian literature in English? Even if we get past the tricky question of origin, which has obsessed scholars since the term came into being, and include the non-resident and the genetically partially South Asian, in recent years the growing diversity in South Asian English literature should lead to more questions - having overcome the ‘South Asian’ part of the question by being all-inclusive, how do we now define ‘literature’? Do we include comics and graphic novels, speculative fiction, thrillers, chick-lit, campus novels and crime fiction, all of which have reared their heads in India over the last decade? This should prove a lot more difficult for the sagacious and scholarly to do, given that literary snobbery is far more acceptable than racism - and that Indian-origin writers abroad might have very thin connections with India, but large advances and literary awards add a great deal of density to the study of the field - build its brand, in other words, however gut-shrinking that might sound, while diversity in the form of new, not necessarily mainstream writing increases the number of spices in the curry, but, in the eyes of many not-so-neutral observers, does not necessarily add to its taste. (link)
I think Basu is on the right track here. It doesn’t make that much sense to rail against the “Opal Mehta’s Arranged Monsoon Marriage Under the Curry-Smelling Mango Trees” school of masalafied Indian fiction (which has been discussed quite a bit here at Sepia Mutiny), partly because such fiction does possibly “strengthen the brand,” as Basu puts it. Writers like Basu himself may potentially benefit even by some irksome predecessors, partly because those predecessors carve out space on bookshelves for the next generation of writers, and raise the awareness of both publishers and readers. (Though that holds only if the reputation of the whole isn’t permanently overwhelmed by the reek of rotting pulp.)
In his “Indian Superheroes” essay, Basu talks about the bad Indian copies of western superheroes (“Mr. India”; “Indian Superman”) as well as the Indian connections of some western figures like The Phantom, before moving on to the real subject at interest, which is the emergence of real, homegrown “Indian superheroes,” whose stories and cultural context is identifiably Subcontinental. To some extent the idea of authenticity means the symbolism of the superheroes may be derived from traditional Indian mythology — though I think even simply grounding those figures realistically in the modern Indian cultural context probably goes a long way.
As a final note, I picked up a few things from Samit’s discussion of the growing number of western comics series that have introduced Indian superheroes and supervillains. Of them, my current favorite is the baddie called “Commcast,” who is defined on Wikipedia as follows:
Garabed Bashur, a native of India, is a cyberpath who possesses the mutant ability to psychically retrieve, interpret and store data from any form of electronic media (essentially a highly potent electronic form of telepathy). He was trained in this ability by Professor Charles Xavier, but Xavier rejected Bashur upon learning of his criminal tendencies. (link)
In an era of outsourcing and the explosion of Indian high tech, it’s not at all surprising to see Marvel Comics go this route. I think it’s funny that they gave him a name (“Commcast”) that essentially rhymes with the name of my current Cable/Internet company (“Comcast”) — actually a pretty good name for a villain. And while he is a bit on the geeky side, at least they didn’t give him the name “TeeVo”!
amardeep on July 5, 2006 09:29 AM in Literature · T·r·a·c·k·b·a·c·k address · Direct link · Email post
Comcast IS evil. Totally apposite choice of names for a villain.
Amardeep, you'd better slap a trademark on that title quick, before some packaging house rips it off and makes a brown Sweet Valley High series of it...
Ah so this gunda is the one responsible for sneaking hidden fees into my bill, thus forcing me to endure countless hours with customer care as they 'assist' me in crediting these unauthorized charges..
Curse you Commcastbhai!
Desidancer, I don't care if they rip off my title -- as long as they include a Sikh character in the series named Amardeep, who is the dreamy hunk type.
And Mayur, the only hero who can stop the evil Commcast is "Dishnet," known to the world at large as "Drrish."
Damnit, Amardeep, I demand a special widget which automatically collets all your posts in a downloadable file that I can carry on my phone to the bookstore and library. You always provide the most interesting information, but of course too busy to digest this now. I think you could make good money running a summer bookcamp. :-)
What I want to know is: Where is The Manticore's Secret?
It's part II of the Game World trilogy. I bought Simoquin Prophecies on a visit to India and loved it. But the second book is not available here. Does Samit Basu mention any trouble with getting the book published here? It seems to be well reviewed.
Rasudha, I haven't seen it either -- and the importers aren't carrying it.
But it looks like you can order it from an online bookstore in India and have it shipped. OxfordBookstore.com is selling it for Rs. 265 ($5 US) + shipping.
Thanks Amardeep
Samit Basu should have it online as a downloadable e-book. Wont have to bother with shipping across continents and I can keep it safe from my dog. He loves books too :)
What is Indian/South Asian literature in English?
The phrase "diasporic fiction" is more descriptive and concise, methinks. And it need not apply strictly to Pakistani/Indian/Sri Lankan/Bangladeshi writers writing in *takes deep breath* Urdu Punjabi Hindi Tamil Marathi Assamese Oriya Bengali oh yeah and English.
Are 'Garabed' and 'Bashur' actual desi names, or are they just more ganked-up Western mutations like 'Taj Mahal Bandaladabad?'
Sure, if you want the brand to evoke cliche. By that logic, Talvin Singh, Karsh Kale, Nitin Sawhney et al are diluting the brand instead of extending it.
I'm a Swedish SF writer. I have tried to follow the growth of the Indian SF "scene"... and I've also contributed fiction to the (now defunct) Indian webzine ADBHUT (see "Sins Of Our Fathers," also published at http://www.bewilderingstories.com/issue113/sins_fathers.html).
Now, the development of Swedish Science Fiction in my country went through challenges similar to those facing Indian SF (and still does):
1. Heavy influence from British and American writers/publishers;
2. The problem of finding an "authentic voice" in a genre already so dominated by the English language (can you imagine a Swedish superhero? I can't! ;-));
3. Being a marginalized genre -- the Swedish "cultural establishment" has often treated SF as merely an American "invasion", or dismissed it as trash;
4. How to "strengthen the brand" in one's own country (still a challenge, even in 2007).
May I offer a suggestion?
In much SF, the meaning of what is "authentic" is always being questioned. (Some writers, such as Philip K. Dick, specialize in "fake realities" that are often indistinguishable from "reality"). See also THE MATRIX.
How about using science fiction to discuss the meaning of what is "authentically Indian"?
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Picture this story scenario: "India2".
At first, the character X appears to be living in India hundreds of years ago, fighting a foreign invasion. Against impossible odds, the invading army is defeated and X's people celebrate their miraculous victory against the foreign empire.
Then it suddenly appears to X: "This can't be real. The odds were truly impossible. If this was an authentic war, we should have lost."
And gradually he wakes up in the real world of 2060, and realizes that he has spent days in a computer-simulation called "India2," where history is rewritten.
In the simulation of "India2," played by millions of players at once, all crises and problems of the past are reversed -- and this "fake past" is now so popular, it's regarded as the "authentic India."
But X rebels against "India2;" he is sick of living in the past. And he starts to sabotage "India2" by smuggling contemporary (simulated) objects into the simulated world: cars, contraceptives, computers, political reform, spaceships, modern clothes...
Other players follow his example, and eventually the "fake" world changes into a rough imitation of the real, contemporary India: The past, present and future all mixed up in one place.
X wakes up from "India2", walks into the street and thinks: "Did I really wake up? It looks almost the same..."
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