Ecopoetics and Aranya in the Graphic Novel Aranyaka: Book of the Forest

Abstract

The crucial nexus between ecology, forest, forest dwellers, and their position in the ancient genres of literature and art is a significant area of aesthetic contemplation. Ancient Indian literary traditions have remarkable eco-sensitivity and display their own style of ecopoetics (signified by genres such as the Aranyakas). This study presents a critical analysis of the graphic novel Aranyaka: Book of the Forest (2019) — an artistic retelling based on Puranic tales, the Upanishads, and a special literary genre called the Aranyakas (because these texts were composed in the forests). This graphic novel is the culmination of an artistic collaboration between the graphic artist Amruta Patil and the Indian mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik. The novel has complex visual metaphors that are based on the intimate stories of the well-known Indian sage Y?jñavalkya, his wives Katyayani and Maitreyi, and a dialogue with his disciple Gargi. The graphic novel presents fragments of stories based on the concealed wisdom of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad. The novel is a “play” on the perceived dualisms of Nature and Culture, Savage and Civilised. The text is dialogic in its structure. There is an interplay of visual art with verbal metaphors from ancient Indian tales.