MORE THAN A HIP YOUNG GENRE - Published The Statesman 09

What is a graphic novel? Inevitably, this was the first question the British Council had to address on acquiring its spanking new collection of the genre. It’s generally agreed that a graphic novel is ‘weightier’ than a comic book – but that hardly narrows the field. They often literally weigh more (a novel has to pack a good page-count, after all). Some would argue that they deal with weightier or more ‘adult’ subject matter than comics. Then again, they’re usually heavier on your purse. The truth is that non-initiates often have very little idea of what a graphic novel is and does. And India, for her part, has been slow to embrace the phenomenon.

The British Council, then, is leading the field by inviting Kolkatans to choose from a considered range of works in which Sarnath Banerjee’s ‘Corridor’ rubs shoulders with British classics like Gaiman’s ‘Sandman’ and Talbot’s ‘Alice in Sunderland’. Not content to just dish up the books, the BC have also arranged reading groups to help newcomers grapple with the genre and allow enthusiasts to share their pleasure and insight.

The reading group I attended was on ‘Watchmen’ by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbs. First published in 1986-87, ‘Watchmen’ takes comic book stereotypes and bursts them asunder, depicting a parallel ‘80s New York in which a group of everyday citizens have become superheroes. Just flicking through ‘Watchmen’ makes your brain boggle. Forget the stock format of neatly framed pics and accompanying speech bubbles. Moore’s expertly lawless tangle of image and text is inter-spliced with faux-documents that range from mock psychology reports to diary excerpts. It also bubbles over with allusions to pop and underground culture - think Dylan, Iggy Pop and William Burroughs, to name but a few.

You can imagine my gratitude at not having to tackle the ‘Watchmen’ universe alone. The reading group I attended was admittedly small, but it mercifully included a bunch of fanatical Moore fans. As we read out the first chapter together, these guys couldn’t resist jumping in to point out a visual pun the group may have missed, explain the influence of the cold war climate, or revel in such memorable lines as: ‘The dust reeks of fornication and bad consciences.’

In short, the reading group was a godsend. That said, without attendance by these knowledgeable fans, it could have fallen flat on its face. This is because the convener from the British Council had not read the book, and appeared to be under the impression that it was a recent publication (perhaps misled by the release of Zack Snyder’s film adaptation last March).
The scenario of a small but hardcore contingent explaining the genre to their ‘elders and betters’ reflects the peculiar position now occupied by the graphic novel. The last three decades have seen the genre win acceptance as a literary form in its own right. ‘Watchmen’ has been key to this process, having received a Hugo award and appeared in Time Magazine's list of the ‘100 best English-language novels’. Yet there is still reluctance among literati worldwide to allow graphic novels into the canon proper. This closed mindset definitely reigns in Kolkata, as evidenced by the absence of graphic novels on English Literature syllabi here in the city.

The British Council has taken a pioneering step in introducing this collection. However, they may be in danger of falling back on a perception of the graphic novel as a ‘hip young form’. It’s safe to say, for example, that they wouldn’t have held such an ill prepared event on a conventional classic novel such as ‘Midnight’s Children’. While this collection could make crucial headway in terms of introducing the genre to Kolkatans, the British Council must first accept the graphic novel as a fully legitimate literary genre with an already long and distinguished history.