Books by Anuja Madan
This study explores the negotiation of subject English in primary school textbooks issued by one ... more This study explores the negotiation of subject English in primary school textbooks issued by one of India’s central educational institutions. It considers the recommendations of the 2005 National Curriculum Framework and National Focus Groups Position Papers with regard to language teaching and how these policies are reflected in the 2006-2008 NCERT English textbooks for Classes III, IV and V. The book evolved out of a 3 member, fieldwork-based group project that was carried out under the direction of Dr. Rimli Bhattacharya, commissioned by the Eklavya Foundation (a registered NGO that works in the area of elementary education in India) and funded by Ratan Tata Trust. Microanalyses of textbooks is supplemented by observations of the textbooks being transacted in government school classrooms, as well as by suggestions on alternative approaches to make English teaching more meaningful even within the constraints of the contemporary educational system in India.
Papers by Anuja Madan
Literary Cultures and Twenty-First-Century Childhoods , 2020
Hindu mythology has been and continues to be an endless source of inspiration for all forms of ar... more Hindu mythology has been and continues to be an endless source of inspiration for all forms of artistic expression in the Indian subcontinent. The two main Indian Sanskrit epics, The Ramayana and The Mahabharata, have in particular been retold endlessly over centuries, in multiple languages, for rural, urban, cosmopolitan audiences, in a variety of media, from oral storytelling to dance and theatre, puppet forms, plastic arts, film, music, TV shows, etc. In the twenty-first century, Indian public culture has witnessed a resurgence of narratives drawn from or inspired by Hindu mythology, in a range of media targeted at adults and children: Hindi TV shows, English language fiction, 1 a new wave of English comics and graphic novels, multilingual picturebooks, and animation films and TV shows in different languages. Integral to the mythology boom is the rapid expansion of the Indian publishing industry; according to a 2015 report, India is the third-largest English-language print book publisher in the world and the sixth biggest publishing market globally ("Perspectives on Publishing in India"). This includes children's publishing-evident, for example, in the emergence of a distinct young adult segment. The twenty-first century has also seen rapid growth in the children and youth entertainment sectors, including TV programming meant especially for children. 1 Amish Tripathi has been the most successful author writing in the category of mythological English-language fiction. His Shiva trilogy was enormously successful and his subsequent series, based on the Ramayana, has been the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history (Nair). Mythological English fiction and Hindi live action TV series are mainly targeted at adults.
South Asian Review, 2019
Basu) grew out of a group study on Indian English-language textbooks. She has published articles ... more Basu) grew out of a group study on Indian English-language textbooks. She has published articles on Jean-Luc Godard and picture-book retellings of The Mahabharata. Her two most recent articles on an Indian graphic novel retelling of The Ramayana and mythological Indian animation films have been published in Michelle A. Abate and Gwen A. Tarbox's anthology,
The Routledge Companion to International Children's Literature, 2018
This book chapter investigates the reconfiguration of the popular Hindu monkey-god Hanuman in myt... more This book chapter investigates the reconfiguration of the popular Hindu monkey-god Hanuman in mythological animations produced for Indian children. Hanuman, who is a central character of the Indian epic Ramayana, has been considered by many as the original superhero of Indian culture because of his exceptional supernatural abilities (he can fly faster than the wind, change shapes, has enormous strength, and is immortal). In 2005, Percept Pictures released a phenomenally successful 2D Hindi animation film titled Hanuman, in which the eponymous deity was given a new iconography as a cute, Disney-esque, blue-eyed toddler. The chapter argues that though these texts hint that the “indigenous superhero” will subvert American hegemonic structures, they showcase the influence of American neo-liberal discourse through their valorization of consumption and commodification. The texts self-consciously subvert conventions of the American superhero genre, but the reconfiguration of the deity is informed by Caucasian norms of beauty and Disney animations, while the marketing strategies simulate the Hollywood business model. Hanuman is often read as a subaltern character of Ramayana, but I will seek to demonstrate that baby Hanuman is no subaltern figure, for he upholds hegemonic ideas of the Indian nation, family and gender relations for his child audience, and perhaps most problematically, contributes to the discourse of Hindu majoritarianism through his evocation of religious hero-worship.
Graphic Novels for Children and Young Adults, 2017
This paper discusses three of Jean-Luc Godard’s films—Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live, 1962), Alpha... more This paper discusses three of Jean-Luc Godard’s films—Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live, 1962), Alphaville, une Étrange aventure de Lemmy Caution (Alphaville, A Strange Adventure of Lemmy Caution, 1965) and Week End (1967). I pay attention the Godard’s predominant concerns in these films— people’s unthinking absorption of images and a projected reality, the crisis of language and meaning, epistemological imperialism, the dangers of the pervasive consumerist and materialistic culture in Western society and an anxiety about the role of cinema. I argue that Godard’s films display themselves as constructs through a range of strategies such as mextatextuality, Brechtian distantiation and an undercutting of the cinematic apparatus in order to disallow his audience from a superficial response to the film and an emotional identification with the actors. Godard’s films encourage his audience to mediate their emotional response through an intellectual awareness, even while placing faith in human connection as the most powerful counter to the solipsistic and self-destructive state that society has reached.
Book Reviews by Anuja Madan
Jeunesse: Young People, Texts, Cultures, 2018
As the title indicates, this collection of thirteen essays focuses on representations of childhoo... more As the title indicates, this collection of thirteen essays focuses on representations of childhood in comics from different countries. The editors note that their text represents "the first book-length approach to bring together a variety of comics, across vast geographic and temporal spaces, to better understand the intersections between comics and childhood as both an abstract concept and a lived experience" (3). They observe that the book stands at the intersection of comics studies and childhood studies, both of which are interdisciplinary fields. Although most chapters focus on North American comics, the anthology includes essays on comics from France, Japan, Finland, Argentina, and Iran, testifying to its transnational scope. The anthology asks how constructions of childhood in comics speak to contemporary culture and society and how socio-historical concerns of the time shape Heimermann, Mark, and Brittany Tullis, editors. Picturing Childhood: Youth in Transnational Comics. U of Texas P, 2017. 280 pp. $85.00 hc. ISBN 9781477311615. representations of childhood in comics. Picturing Childhood is organized chronologically and covers a century: the first chapter discusses Little Orphan Annie, which debuted in 1924, and the last chapter analyzes Sweet Tooth, which was serialized from 2009 to 2013. In the introduction, the editors helpfully categorize essays according to different areas of focus. Chapters by Pamela Robertson Wojcik, Lara Saguisag, and Annick Pellegrin "explore the ways in which comics reflect a wide spectrum of cultural values concerning children and childhood" (7). Chapters by Ralf Kauranen,
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Books by Anuja Madan
Papers by Anuja Madan
Book Reviews by Anuja Madan