Narrative as Art: Teaching Contemporary Indian Fiction through Creative Pedagogies

English Literature

Narratives are not only stories; they are artistic forms of human expression that shape imagination, memory, and identity. When literature is approached as an art form, it moves beyond the written word and enters the realm of painting, music, performance, and sculpture. This article explores five such novels—Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line (2020), Arundhati Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017), Shubhangi Swarup’s Latitudes of Longing (2018), Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (2014), and Anuradha Roy’s Sleeping on Jupiter (2015). Each novel demonstrates a unique fusion of narrative and art: sketches and cartoons, mosaics and murals, landscape paintings, oral performances, and fractured mosaics of trauma. By viewing narrative as art, teachers can encourage students to connect emotionally and imaginatively with literature.The paper further argues that art-based pedagogies such as drawing, collage-making, dramatization, eco-poetry, and creative writing can help students engage with texts more meaningfully. As we are living in this modern era, it is crucial to learn and understand the significance of teaching the contemporary Indian fiction through such more creative pedagogies which hones the potential of the learner holistically.

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