Children’s Literature in the Digital Era: The Indian Scenario

Abstract

Children’s literature in the modern world is undergoing sea changes. The introduction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) has had an impact even on children’s literature. There have been changes not only in the contents but also in the way literature is presented to children. Advanced science has introduced many electronic gadgets, which have prompted children to be glued to them, reading, watching, or even listening to their favourite literature. Children of today are increasingly drawn to digital screens, and literature is being written for them, making it suitable for this medium. However, whatever is being said is applied to Western countries. In the Indian subcontinent, children’s literature is not so influenced by modern gadgets or ICT. Even the genre of children’s literature is being neglected in India. If at all it is in existence, it is only in the form of short stories or pictorial cartoons. Only a few Indian characters are popular among children. Characters from epics and puraanas are still used repeatedly by children filmmakers and publishers. This paper aims to analyze these issues. An effort has also been made to compare the present status of children’s literature of the West and that of India.