A Glimpse into Past And Present Challenges: Indian Electronic Literature
Submission Type
Paper
Start Date/Time (EDT)
18-7-2024 3:30 PM
End Date/Time (EDT)
18-7-2024 4:30 PM
Location
Narrative & Worlds
Abstract
The field of Indian electronic literature has demonstrated consistent growth in terms of creative works, events, and scholarly contributions in recent years. Prominent instances of this development include the curation of electronic literary works by dra.ft, significant contributions from Indian writers/artists to the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 4, and the publication of the Indian Electronic Literature Anthology. Furthermore, both private and public institutions actively organize conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses dedicated to electronic literature. In the discourse on the potential and expansion of electronic literature in India, scholars such as Shanmugapriya, Samya Brata Roy, and Souvik Mukherjee have rightfully emphasized the challenges posed by the digital divide and a lack of awareness about electronic literature. While acknowledging these identified obstacles, I pose the question of whether there are additional challenges that may have been overlooked. To investigate this, I present three fundamental inquiries, each probing distinct fields: the history of computers, the domain of Indian conventional literature, and the development of digital infrastructure. The computer was perceived as a utilitarian tool for economic growth and national development, with literary creativity or creative applications not seen as integral. While the Western world was experimenting creativity with computers in the 1950s, Indian literary novels, like R.K. Narayan's The Vendor of Sweets, were already exploring the intersection of technology and literary writing. In this case, the primary questions addressed in my article are as follows: Does the challenge solely revolve around the digital divide, or does it extend to a 'digital "creativity" divide'? Is there an inherent struggle between tradition and modernism in this context? Are we compelled to adopt a minimalist approach? The primary objective of this essay is to study the challenges and barriers of digital-born creative works in India through studying the aforementioned its relative fields.
Recommended Citation
T, Shanmugapriya, "A Glimpse into Past And Present Challenges: Indian Electronic Literature" (2024). ELO (un)linked 2024. 3.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/elo2024/narrativeandworlds/schedule/3
A Glimpse into Past And Present Challenges: Indian Electronic Literature
Narrative & Worlds
The field of Indian electronic literature has demonstrated consistent growth in terms of creative works, events, and scholarly contributions in recent years. Prominent instances of this development include the curation of electronic literary works by dra.ft, significant contributions from Indian writers/artists to the Electronic Literature Collection Volume 4, and the publication of the Indian Electronic Literature Anthology. Furthermore, both private and public institutions actively organize conferences, seminars, workshops, and courses dedicated to electronic literature. In the discourse on the potential and expansion of electronic literature in India, scholars such as Shanmugapriya, Samya Brata Roy, and Souvik Mukherjee have rightfully emphasized the challenges posed by the digital divide and a lack of awareness about electronic literature. While acknowledging these identified obstacles, I pose the question of whether there are additional challenges that may have been overlooked. To investigate this, I present three fundamental inquiries, each probing distinct fields: the history of computers, the domain of Indian conventional literature, and the development of digital infrastructure. The computer was perceived as a utilitarian tool for economic growth and national development, with literary creativity or creative applications not seen as integral. While the Western world was experimenting creativity with computers in the 1950s, Indian literary novels, like R.K. Narayan's The Vendor of Sweets, were already exploring the intersection of technology and literary writing. In this case, the primary questions addressed in my article are as follows: Does the challenge solely revolve around the digital divide, or does it extend to a 'digital "creativity" divide'? Is there an inherent struggle between tradition and modernism in this context? Are we compelled to adopt a minimalist approach? The primary objective of this essay is to study the challenges and barriers of digital-born creative works in India through studying the aforementioned its relative fields.
Bio
Shanmugapriya T is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines) Dhanbad. She was a Digital Humanities Postdoctoral Scholar at the Department of Historical and Cultural Studies at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Shanmu was an AHRC Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of History at Lancaster University. She earned her PhD in Indian English Literature and Digital Humanities from the Indian Institute of Technology Indore. Her research and teaching focus on digital humanities, digital environmental humanities and digital literature.