Indian Commercial Fiction in English

Abstract

The means of production for literature in English have seen significant changes in India since the late 1980s. A remarkable proliferation of both independent and international publishers with “Indian English literature” — particularly fiction — lists has taken place. In this regard the current phase of development can be traced back to the independent publisher Ravi Dayal’s (established 1988) success with Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines (1988) and to the setting up of Penguin India in 1985. A corresponding diversification in categories and genres of such literature has evidently occurred. Within the Indian market, Indian “commercial fiction” in English has unquestionably been the principal area of diversification, while “literary fiction” in English — as much a market category as “commercial fiction” — and translations from Indian vernaculars have become more varied and numerous too.