ABSTRACT
This chapter explores some of the themes regarding form and through a close reading of Srividya Natarajan's A Gardener in the Wasteland (GW). It argues that GW and other such graphic novels seeking to convey massive historical trauma in the popular register escape the crisis of authenticity that marks all other works dealing with genocide and historical trauma. More than a thematic account of the work, the chapter aims to show how historical trauma around the caste system in India. The graphic novel allows storytellers to pull together diverse histories into the same panel and, therefore, impose upon our visual field an intercultural history of trauma, suffering and cruelty. The storytellers next rely on Jotiba Phule's book, Gulamgiri published in 1873. Indeed, GW opens with a facsimile reproduction of the cover page of Gulamgiri. This page constitutes the first page of GW, on the obverse of which is the colophon page.
