Visualizing Literary Memory: Ravishankar Raval and the Formation of Cultural Identity in Gujarat

Abstract

The essential contribution of the artist Ravishankar Raval to the formation of modern Gujarati cultural identity is questioned in this paper, namely, through the visual images of literary and historical figures created by him. The paper will use four landmark portraits, including Munjal Mehta, Jhansi Ki Rani Laxmibai, Mirabai, and Manbhatt to explain how Raval turned verbatim textual representations especially those of the novelist Kanaiyalal Munshi into permanent visual symbols. The integration of Western ideals of realism and the native traditions of revival aesthetics, including miniature traditions and the wash technique, by Raval created a unique visual language between the tradition and modernity. These portraits are not only the illustrative supplements, but rather cultural records, which actively form the memory of people and local pride. The paucity of setting, the restraint of symbolic decoration, the considerations of composition, bring historical persons from personalities into archetypal forms of political wisdom, martial opposition, religious obedience, and acting custom. Publication in the powerful journals like Kumar helped Raval spread the imagery through the large portion of the population and ingrained it in the visual lexicon of Gujarat. The paper argues that the works of Raval are clear instances of regional modernism and it shows how artistic practice can be involved in nationalist discourse without losing cultural rootedness. This interdisciplinary discourse between literature and visual art thus unveils the power behind intermedial translation in the development of communal memory and identification with their history.