South Asian Digital Humanities by Roopika Risam Rahul K. Gairola

Author:Roopika Risam, Rahul K. Gairola [Roopika Risam, Rahul K. Gairola]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780367504052
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2020-07-23T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusion

As notable IWE authors, Rushdie, Roy, and Ghosh are familiar with the opportunities and pressures of the “Western literary marketplace.” Their responses to their positions within that marketplace over time, which we can study through traditional media such as interviews, newspaper quotes, and published essays, is important to a more focused study of their published work. However, even these media outlets are highly subject to the influences of the literary marketplace and often severely mediated by third parties. Studying their digital epitexts allows researchers a rare opportunity to study author content creation that is largely independent of the expectations and restrictions of the literary marketplace. Any analysis which seeks to represent their relationship to the larger IWE canon would do well to consider what digital “minor” genre epitexts can reveal about how they operate inside and/or outside of the restrictions and expectations of the literary establishment.

Additionally, by considering the significance of digital epitexts within the context of literary studies, we gain access to potential literary subjects which are otherwise non-existent because of existing cultural, linguistic, and material barriers. For example, Caribbean author Anthony Williams points out that digital platforms like social media are one of the only avenues for Caribbean authors to access a literary marketplace:

Over the years, the increasing conglomeration and consolidation of publishing houses and bookstores and the rising influence of literary agents as gatekeepers have further limited new and aspiring writers’ access to publishing opportunities. What we read and our knowledge and images of the world are largely being decided by a very limited and incestuous collection of cliques with power bases beyond the reach of Caribbean-based writers, and of many of those who live in North America and other parts of the developed world. […] I came to the conclusion that, if they are to get around these barriers, our writers have to find new mediums to draw attention to themselves and their work. They need more publishing opportunities and other avenues to showcase their work. I saw the Internet and new media as important outlets to help them do this. (Romdhani 2011)

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