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View from here – english in india: the rise of dalit and ne literature.

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Nandana Dutta, View from Here – English in India: The Rise of Dalit and NE Literature, English: Journal of the English Association , Volume 67, Issue 258, Autumn 2018, Pages 201–208, https://doi.org/10.1093/english/efy025

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This article argues that transactions between the English text and local conditions are an important aspect of developments in English in India determining interpretations in teaching and research. Texts emerging from contemporary conditions feature in courses, with one of the most significant of these transactions resulting in the incorporation of Dalit and minority literatures into English Studies. Perceived as an instrument of empowerment by Indians almost from the time it was introduced, English has never quite lost this aspect of its role – and even as the discipline has taken note of global expansions in the field through theory and the incorporation of new areas, it has gradually acquired a strong national/regional flavour through the incorporation of texts that have emerged out of struggles for visibility and voice by marginal groups. The rise of Dalit and Northeast Indian English literature and their incorporation into English syllabi are two examples of this trend.

While trying to capture a sense of the current status of the discipline of English as it is taught at college and university level in India, and brought up short by the impossible task of pulling together the many ways in which the discipline exists here, I realized that perhaps the only common thread that runs through its multiple practices is the growing interest in Dalit writing from all over the country and writings (mostly in English) from the north eastern states of India (or NE as it is commonly known). The bird’s eye view would reveal literatures from these two sites – the Dalit and the NE – making the most significant impact on the discipline by their hospitality to current developments in theory, their strong ideological moorings in otherness of caste and tribe respectively, and, perhaps most importantly, their accessibility as areas of study.

‘English in India’ as a meta-issue has been the subject of study ever since Gauri Viswanathan’s Masks of Conquest demonstrated how English Literature was used by the British as a tool of subject construction and governance. While the goals and influence of English (language and literary study) changed with Independence in 1947, interest in what can be achieved through it has continued to grow and change. A Google search would show many essays and books that describe and analyse ‘English in India’ with varying degrees of success and most often with an emphasis on the language. English is taught in schools across the country, functions as the language of communication among the educated, is the language of higher education, and is often used as an official language in administration and in the courts. Simultaneously, Indian Writing in English (IWE) has become an exciting new addition to the global English Literature corpus. And English continues to be part of subject construction and empowerment exercises. But what is the nature of the discipline in contemporary India? An overview would show the presence of English in the above-mentioned ways as a significant context for developments in the discipline, while transactions between the English text and local conditions appear to affect interpretations in teaching and research. Texts emerging from contemporary conditions feature in courses, with one of the most significant of these transactions resulting in the incorporation of Dalit and minority literatures into English Studies. Perceived as an instrument of empowerment by Indians almost from the time it was introduced, English has never quite lost this aspect of its role – and even as the discipline has taken note of global expansions in the field through theory and the incorporation of new areas, it has gradually acquired a strong national/regional flavour that has helped turn the very real disadvantages of practising the discipline outside of its primary Anglo-American sites of production into a source of strength. And since higher education is administered from the University Grants Commission (UGC) through a combination of suggestion and direction, model curricula periodically issued by it are often a barometer of change with Dalit, regional, minority, Indian English, and classical literature being highlighted in such advisories at different times.

Over the last seven or eight decades the primarily British-English syllabus inherited from colonial education has expanded to include literatures in English from other parts of the world and India, and has come to terms with offering a percentage of translated texts from European and Latin American literatures and from some of the major Indian literary traditions. Today it is a combination of a historically inherited core British literature component supplemented in different universities with American, African, Australian, Canadian, South Asian, and Caribbean texts and elective courses (these national literatures do not always feature as full courses but individual texts often appear in courses on Women’s Writing, literature and environment, post-humanism and literature, graphic novels, etc.). Besides, newer texts and areas emerging in the wake of India’s national and regional politics, social concerns, and discourses about public events have gradually begun to appear.

Such new texts from socio-economic and political conditions and events stemming from churning amongst the many racial, class, and caste components in India’s tradition-bound social fabric have helped to evolve reading strategies that are directed at critiquing the domains from which they have emerged even as they have contributed to the formation of new critical terminologies and themes. The UGC’s curricular suggestions have facilitated incorporation of region and language specific content. So the English syllabus at a university in the north east of India would have English and translated texts from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Tripura (available from reputed publishers at local booksellers). A university in West Bengal might have courses on Bengali Dalit writing (both Jadavpur University and West Bengal State University have individual faculty offering such courses). A central university (like Hyderabad, Delhi, or Jawaharlal Nehru University [JNU]) with a different kind of ethnic composition and cultural politics might have courses on both Dalit and writing from the NE states on offer or encourage research in these areas. This scene, with obvious regional modifications, is repeated in universities all over the country.

Many dimensions of English are apparent in various parts of the country (regional variations emerging from racial, ethnic, linguistic and cultural conditions), and English is made to bear the weight of different expectations. Debates over whether students should study Indian writing in English or continue to read the British and American writers were common at one time and, we continue to argue whether Shakespeare (and other early writers) should be taught in general courses in English and whether science students in their compulsory English paper should read literary classics or science writings, or should be prescribed Indian short stories and poems in original English or in English translation from Indian languages. Many of these concerns come out of an interpretation/understanding of contemporary India, especially about disparities in education and wealth, about social class, caste and gender discriminations, and the need to provide education that will help ameliorate such problems.

The ‘politics of English literature as a colonial phenomenon’ has long been displaced as a way of thinking about the discipline and the language even as newer strategic uses have been regularly reinvented. That earlier view is usually taken for granted as part of the history of English in India but to think of current practice is to acknowledge how deeply immersed English has become in the Indian everyday, which includes the socio-political changes going on in post-Independence India, the tone and rhetoric of public discourse, and everyday events that catch news headlines – acts of corruption, violence, multi-ethnic Indian classrooms, gender and ethnic discrimination – all of which quickens English language usage and sharpens interpretation of literary representation. In fact, one eminent English teacher narrates his own experience of teaching Hemingway’s ‘Hills like White Elephants’ through processes of translation in a multi-ethnic classroom and discovers what students might learn: ‘readers of “Hills” in languages other than English open up other worlds where their selves are relocated and discovered. No one is perfectly at home or elsewhere in reading such stories as “Hills,” a discovery only a translation, however imperfect, can teach them’. 1 Chandran’s essay, one of many others that he has written on the experience of teaching English in India, suggests that young readers bring to the classroom and to the specific texts cultural experiences drawn from the reality of their lives in contemporary India that determine how they are likely to respond to the English text.

The complex reception and strategic hospitality accorded to the English text are the result of the urgency in students and researchers to make their discipline more responsive and relevant. This urgency has gradually begun to appear as the profile of the English classroom, determined by a combination of merit and social welfare schemes of reservation (the reservation of seats for constitutionally defined disadvantaged groups at all levels and going up to recruitment of faculty), has become more and more complex, and has begun to influence text selection and modes of classroom practice. The ideal of social upliftment through English is not new. 2 It has been a part of the expectations attendant upon knowledge of the English language and has been one of the tacit goals of English literary study at the university during its long history in India. But the growing self-consciousness, protests, and demands for visibility and justice on the part of India’s variously disadvantaged communities have ensured a path-breaking shift in Indian society and English has frequently been the engine driving this movement even as it has itself felt the impact of the upheaval.

For the discipline the shift was initially visible in MPhil and PhD research and in projects funded by the UGC 3 and has been the result of a number of negative and positive factors. The negatives include the impossibly large numbers coming into higher education institutions to study for BA and MA degrees and often going onto research degrees (with that nth PhD dissertation based on a superficial reading of a chosen author); uncertain competence in core English literature; and problems of access to primary materials on British and other English language authors. Among the positives are the alternative and local language histories of the canonical English text (as it came to be translated and circulated in one or other of the many literary cultures); theoretical engagement in the global culture of the discipline with issues of trauma, violence, otherness, and the body facilitating the incorporation of texts from Dalit and tribal experience and from Indian experiences of Partition, the Emergency, the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, etc.; and contemporary events that have made it impossible to insulate the English text from its moment of reception (for example, frequent events of rape and honour killings occurring in the still heavily feudal societies in many parts of India have often served as prisms to refract the representation of interpersonal violence in the English text). Literatures representing and making visible these experiences are also invested with the goal of empowerment and social development that runs through Indian higher education policy, even as they speak to ideological associations (and identity issues) of communities. It is possible to identify two kinds of responses in this situation – one in the inclusion of actual new texts and fields of study drawn from India’s current socio-political and economic conditions/crises; and a second in readings of the canonical English text alongside radical new texts (the English text now seems closer even as it allows the event to be seen more sharply and critically).

So, from being a tool in British colonial hands it has now metamorphosed into a strategic tool in the hands of Indian students and researchers of the discipline. It has been progressively Indianized – through the admission of new texts from hitherto ignored and invisible areas of culture, through comparative work, and in a turn to Indian aesthetics and classic Indian texts. The most recent (2015) UGC model curriculum for the BA course starts off with a paper on Indian Classical Literature that includes Kalidasa’s Shakuntala, Sudraka’s Mrcchakatika, ‘The Book of Banci’ from Adigal’s Cilappatikaram: The Tale of an Anklet and several sections from the Mahabharata while among suggested readings is Bharata’s Natyashastra – all of which would earlier only have been referred to in passing in the classroom, if at all. 4

The interest in politically charged work has accompanied the protest movement of the Dalit Panthers and has created serious readership for Dalit autobiographies and poetry and fiction on Dalit experience. Autobiographical novels like Karukku by Bama and Ittibritte Chandal Jibon by Manoranjan Byapari, autobiographies by Baby Kamble ( Jina Amucha ) and Daya Pawar ( Baluta ), and the powerful poetry of Namdeo Dhasal (to name a random handful of representative Dalit texts in Tamil, Marathi, and Bangla, all available in English translation) now feature in syllabi across the country. The emergence of Dalit consciousness is a pan-Indian phenomenon and its powerful discourse of otherness has led to discovery of similar literatures in regions earlier thought to be devoid of Dalit groups. 5

Dalit literature finding a place in English curricula has been the result of much of this literature being either written in English or being quickly translated into English. The role of Katha and Sahitya Akademi in supporting translations from the literary traditions of other languages, the rise of new publishers and local presses, as well as the changed policy on translations of big publishing houses like OUP and Penguin, has been largely responsible for the availability of this literature. Publishing houses that have begun to specialize in Dalit writing are identified by Jaya Bhattacharji Rose as Macmillan India ( Karukku was brought out by them), Orient Longman/OBS, OUP India, Zubaan, Navayana, Adivaani, Speaking Tiger, and Penguin Random House. 6 Besides these there are smaller presses throughout India publishing minority and Dalit literature. The case of literature in English from the ‘North East’ is similar, with visibility and circulation being achieved because of the interest shown by the same publishers.

Recently, I was at a workshop on Translation organized by the English Department of West Bengal State University (WBSC). The focus was on translations of Bangla Dalit writings. The overall ambience of the workshop was distinctly Bengali with workshop participants (comprising of translators who were expected to use the three days of the workshop to fine tune their translations through interactions with the writers present and with one another) and invited Resource Persons (mainly senior academics who were expected to use their own experience of translation to comment on the problems brought up by the participant-translators and set them against current positions in the field of translation studies) being asked to use English, Bangla, and Hindi in their presentations and interventions. Several of the writers whose works had been or were being translated were present along with their translators, even as the workshop identified new writings under this category. Since there was no Dalit literature in my region (comprised of the eight states of India’s northeast), the example I gave was of a similar translation context. This was a project that the English Department of my university had carried out in 2000–2001 which involved the collection of folk tales from several tribal languages of Assam and their translation into English. The project was titled ‘Representation of Women in the Folk Narratives of Assam’ and the process of collection from oral sources and already existing published versions in Assamese translation revealed two interesting features: one was a desire for visibility on the part of communities/groups marginalized by a dominant literary culture – and hence the willingness to be translated into English; the second was the mediatory role played by departments of English in this politics of visibility, a role that has elements of social responsibility, genuine desire to make a rich vernacular literature available to a larger readership, and perhaps most crucially the need to reinvent or at least reenergize the discipline and redefine the place of the Indian academic within this discipline.

The other significant surge of interest has been in literature produced in the eight states of the region known collectively as ‘the North East’ (much of it in English, though literature in the Assamese language has a long history and powerful presence). This literature has successfully articulated the region’s historical marginalization, its cultural and ethnic distinctiveness, its contemporary politics of identity, and accompanying insurgencies and violence, even as the conditions that produced this literature have provided insight into issues of power and powerlessness, and of processes of othering in social and political sites. The experience of alienation, misrepresentation, and political neglect of the NE has been long drawn out and persistent and its perceived and real marginalization has been frequently represented in its literature; and since much of it has been in English or is available in English translation this literature has entered syllabuses without too much resistance.

These two areas of experience have led to hitherto unimaginable representations of cruelties; of bodily oppression and mental agonies; of disgust, shame and revulsion, strong resistance, and critiques of historical persecution. The struggle to find voice and expression has helped refurbish the critical apparatus of writers and critics. Questions of space, body, and otherness have become the stuff of critical language, and students and teachers of English literature have been quick to make the connection between English texts and Dalit and NE literature and allow the insights gained to influence approaches to otherness, and social oppression in the English text.

An example of the kind of thing that happens in the contemporary classroom in India should give a sense of these shifts. The classroom at my university has students coming from different ethnic groups, from rural and urban backgrounds, often with little or no previous exposure to English literature before they enter the BA programme. The challenge is to find a point where we can converse and use the familiar to introduce the strange. The entry point for them is often life in the region, and their access to the discourse about the region made up of identity, neglect, invisibility, and marginalization has both colonial and contemporary resonances. When faced with a text like The Merchant of Venice (one of the most popular and featuring frequently in syllabi), the student’s sympathy for Shylock is immediate. While they enjoy the twists and turns of the plot and readily mouth critical platitudes derived usually these days from online notes, their response to Shylock is experiential and therefore more engaged. With a little steering into the social dynamics of the play they quickly see the way the majority Christian community treats the minority Jewish community – drawing on their own sensitivity to the treatment NE students receive when they go to study or work in metropolises like Delhi and face discrimination and violence from landlords and neighbours or randomly on streets because of different food habits, dress, and supposedly bohemian lifestyles.

Contextual elements as part of literary-critical concerns decide themes of research, setting up evaluative schema that address and critique existing frames for reading that have their origin in other contexts (for example, Partition violence or Indian representations of violence and trauma might help to critique migration writing as well as the literature of the Holocaust or 9/11). The need to speak to the specific classroom – and this varies across India – the importance of taking note of current events and social concerns and registering these as relevant to the English classroom, are also part of keeping the discipline relevant.

While it is impossible to generalize, the blend of canonical and local elements found in the university English classroom today points to a dual urge at work in the way English is developing – one that looks both outward and inward. This is the empowerment that the discipline’s practitioners have perhaps been seeking ever since it was introduced and it looks forward to what might very well be an enabling indigenous strand in English Studies in India alongside developments in keeping with its global status.

K. Narayana Chandran, ‘Being Elsewhere: “Hills Like White Elephants,” Translation, and an Indian Classroom’, Pedagogy, 16.3 (2016), 381–92 (p. 391).

Gyanendra Pandey writes of the Dalit relationship to English in ‘Dreaming in English: Challenges of Nationhood and Democracy’, Economic and Political Weekly , LI.16 (2016), 56–62.

See the present author’s essay on ‘The Politics of English in India’, Australian Literary Studies , 28.1–2 (2013), 84–97.

See < https://www.ugc.ac.in/pdfnews/5430486_B.A.-Hons-English.pdf > [accessed 20 March 2018].

A brief overview of Dalit history and marginalization may be had at Palak Mathur and Jessica Singh, ‘Minorities in India: Dalits’ < https://palakmathur.wordpress.com > [accessed 14 February 2018, 11:30].

Jaya Bhattacharji Rose, ‘Dalit Literature in English’ (4 May 2016) < www.jayabhattacharjirose.com > [accessed 14 February 2018, 11:23].

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This guide, centered on English literature research paper topics , serves as a comprehensive resource for students seeking to delve deep into the diverse epochs, authors, and themes that have shaped English literary tradition. Navigating the intricate tapestry of English literature offers scholars a multitude of avenues for exploration. From the mystique of medieval tales to the introspective narratives of modernism, this guide not only provides a plethora of English literature research paper topics but also offers insights on choosing the ideal topic, structuring the research paper, and harnessing the unmatched writing services of iResearchNet. Dive in to unravel the rich heritage of English literature and discover the myriad opportunities it presents for academic exploration.

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Medieval Literature

• The significance of chivalry in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight .
• The Christian and Pagan elements in Beowulf .
• Courtly love in The Knight’s Tale from Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales .
• Dream visions in Pearl and Piers Plowman .
• The role of fate and providence in The Consolation of Philosophy .
• The art of storytelling in The Decameron vs. The Canterbury Tales .
• The Seven Deadly Sins in Everyman .
• The evolution of the English language: Old English vs. Middle English.
• Religious allegory in The Second Shepherd’s Play .
• Women and femininity in the Lais of Marie de France .

Renaissance and Elizabethan Age

• Shakespeare’s portrayal of power in Macbeth .
• Love and beauty in Sonnet 18 .
• The idea of the “New World” in The Tempest .
• The virtues in Spenser’s The Faerie Queene .
• Magic and science in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe.
• The pastoral settings of As You Like It .
• The politics of gender in Twelfth Night .
• Revenge and madness in Hamlet .
• John Donne’s metaphysical poetry and its innovation.
• The darker side of the Renaissance: The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster.

The Restoration and the 18th Century

• The satirical world of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels .
• Class struggles in Daniel Defoe’s Moll Flanders .
• Alexander Pope’s critique of society in The Rape of the Lock .
• Aphra Behn and the emergence of the woman writer.
• The wit and wisdom of Samuel Johnson’s essays.
• The rise of the novel: Richardson vs. Fielding.
• Sentimentality and society in Sterne’s Tristram Shandy .
• Politics and plays: John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera .
• Women, education, and literature: Mary Wollstonecraft’s ideas.
• The mock-heroic in English literature.

Romantic Period

• Nature and transcendence in Wordsworth’s Tintern Abbey .
• The Byronic hero in Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage .
• Shelley’s Ozymandias and the ephemeral nature of power.
• The Gothic romance of Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights .
• George Gordon Lord Byron and the Romantic antihero.
• The visionary world of William Blake’s poems.
• The exotic and the familiar in Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
• Keats’s exploration of beauty and mortality.
• The industrial revolution’s reflection in literature.
• Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and the dangers of ambition.

Victorian Era

• Charles Dickens and his critique of Victorian society.
• The challenges of morality in Thomas Hardy’s novels.
• The bildungsroman in Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre .
• The plight of women in George Eliot’s Middlemarch .
• Oscar Wilde’s wit and irony in The Importance of Being Earnest .
• The debate on science and religion in In Memoriam A.H.H by Alfred Lord Tennyson.
• The mystery and suspense of Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories.
• The “Woman Question” in Victorian literature.
• The realism of Anthony Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire.
• Gothic elements in Dracula by Bram Stoker.
• The fragmented narrative of Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse .
• T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and the disillusionment of the post-war era.
• The struggles of the working class in D.H. Lawrence’s novels.
• The impact of World War I on English poetry.
• James Joyce’s revolutionary narrative techniques in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man .
• E.M. Forster’s exploration of social and racial themes.
• The critique of colonialism in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness .
• W.B. Yeats and the Irish literary revival.
• The emergence of the stream-of-consciousness technique.
• The Jazz Age and decadence in the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

The Gothic Tradition

• Origins of Gothic fiction: Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto .
• The supernatural and macabre in Frankenstein by Mary Shelley.
• Ann Radcliffe’s influence on the Gothic novel.
• The role of the Byronic hero in The Vampyre by John Polidori.
• Duality of human nature in The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde .
• The haunting atmospheres in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.
• Gender and sexuality in Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu.
• Edgar Allan Poe’s influence on English Gothic literature.
• Dracula by Bram Stoker: Themes of sexuality and fear of the unknown.
• The Gothic novel as a reflection of societal fears and anxieties.

The Angry Young Men Era

• Social criticism in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger .
• Exploring masculinity in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning by Alan Sillitoe.
• The disillusionment of post-war Britain in The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner .
• The class struggle in Kingsley Amis’s Lucky Jim .
• Existential themes in John Wain’s Hurry on Down .
• Feminine perspectives in the era: Shelagh Delaney’s A Taste of Honey .
• The critique of academia in The History Man by Malcolm Bradbury.
• The Angry Young Men and their influence on modern theater.
• The transformation of British literature in the 1950s and 1960s.
• The lasting legacy of the Angry Young Men movement in contemporary literature.

Postmodern British Literature

• Metafiction in Julian Barnes’s Flaubert’s Parrot .
• The playfulness of language in Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses .
• Intertextuality in Jeanette Winterson’s Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit .
• The fragmented narrative in Graham Swift’s Waterland .
• Reality and fiction in Ian McEwan’s Atonement .
• Gender and postcolonial themes in Angela Carter’s The Passion of New Eve .
• The exploration of identity in Zadie Smith’s White Teeth .
• The deconstruction of traditional narrative in Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.
• Postmodern gothic in The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield.
• Magical realism in The Porcelain Doll by Julian Barnes.

Contemporary English Literature

• The multicultural London in Brick Lane by Monica Ali.
• Exploring family dynamics in On Beauty by Zadie Smith.
• The concept of time in Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam .
• The role of history in Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall .
• The exploration of love and loss in Julian Barnes’s The Sense of an Ending .
• Postcolonial Britain in Andrea Levy’s Small Island .
• The challenges of modern life in Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity .
• The evolution of the English detective novel: Kate Atkinson’s Case Histories .
• The legacy of the British Empire in The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai.
• The digital age and its influence on literature: The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon.

English literature boasts a rich and varied tapestry of themes, periods, and genres. This comprehensive list is a testament to the dynamism and depth of the field, offering a myriad of research avenues for students. As they venture into each topic, they can appreciate the nuances and complexities that have shaped the literary tradition, making it an invaluable component of global culture and heritage.

English Literature and the Range of Topics It Offers

English literature, encompassing the vast historical, cultural, and artistic legacy of writings in the English language, boasts a rich tapestry of narratives, characters, and stylistic innovations. From the earliest Old English epic poems to the reflective and multifaceted postmodern novels, English literature offers an expansive array of topics for analysis, discussion, and research. The depth and breadth of this literary tradition are mirrored by the diverse range of English literature research paper topics it can inspire.

The Medieval Foundation

Diving into the early origins of English literature, we encounter works like Beowulf , an Old English epic poem of heroism, fate, and the struggle against malevolent forces. Medieval English literature, characterized by religious texts, chivalric romances, and philosophical treatises, sets the stage for the evolution of narrative styles and thematic explorations. The rich allegorical narratives, like Piers Plowman or Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , present intricate societal and spiritual commentaries that still resonate with readers today. These works invite inquiries into the socio-religious dynamics of medieval England, the evolution of the English language, and the literary techniques employed.

Renaissance and Enlightenment: A Burst of Creativity

The Renaissance and Elizabethan Age saw the emergence of revered playwrights like William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, whose dramas, whether tragedies, comedies, or histories, plumbed the depths of human emotion, politics, and existence. The genius of Shakespeare’s Hamlet or Othello , juxtaposed against Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus , provides a fertile ground for investigating themes of ambition, betrayal, love, and existential angst. Moreover, with poets like Edmund Spenser and his epic The Faerie Queene , English literature expanded its horizons, both thematically and stylistically.

The subsequent Restoration and the 18th century ushered in a period of social and literary change. With authors like Jonathan Swift and Alexander Pope, satire became a powerful tool to critique society and politics. Furthermore, the emergence of the novel, as exemplified by Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Samuel Richardson’s Pamela , offered researchers a chance to explore the evolving societal values, gender norms, and narrative techniques.

Romanticism, Victorian Era to Modernism: A Spectrum of Emotion and Thought

The Romantic period, marked by poets like William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and John Keats, celebrated nature, emotion, and individualism. In contrast, the Victorian era, with novelists like Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy, and the Brontë sisters, addressed societal change, morality, and industrialization. Both periods are a goldmine for English literature research paper topics around the individual vs. society, the role of nature, and the exploration of the self.

Modernism in English literature, with heavyweights like Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and T.S. Eliot, revolutionized narrative structure and thematic depth. Works from this era, such as To the Lighthouse or The Waste Land , demand analysis on fragmented narrative, stream of consciousness, and the introspective exploration of the human psyche.

Contemporary Reflections

Contemporary English literature, shaped by postcolonial, feminist, and postmodern influences, gives voice to a plethora of perspectives. Authors like Salman Rushdie, Zadie Smith, and Julian Barnes tackle issues of identity, multiculturalism, history, and reality versus fiction. Such works present a plethora of avenues for research, from analyzing the postcolonial identity in Rushdie’s narratives to the intricate tapestries of familial and societal dynamics in Smith’s novels.

Concluding Thoughts

In essence, English literature is an evolving entity, reflecting and shaping societal, cultural, and individual values and challenges over the centuries. For students and researchers, the wealth of English literature research paper topics it offers ranges from historical and linguistic analyses to deep dives into thematic cores and stylistic innovations. Whether one wishes to explore the chivalric codes of medieval romances, the biting satires of the 18th century, the emotional landscapes of Romanticism, or the fragmented realities of postmodern narratives, English literature provides an inexhaustible reservoir of research opportunities.

How to Choose an English Literature Topic

Choosing a research paper topic, especially within the expansive field of English literature, can be a challenging endeavor. The centuries-spanning literature offers a treasure trove of stories, themes, characters, and socio-political contexts that beckon exhaustive exploration. As such, students often find themselves at a crossroads, wondering where to begin and how to narrow down their choices to find that one compelling topic. Here’s a detailed guide to streamline this process:

• Align with Your Interests: Dive into periods, genres, or authors that genuinely intrigue you. If Victorian novels captivate your imagination or if Shakespearean dramas resonate with you, use that as your starting point. Genuine interest ensures sustained motivation throughout your research journey.
• Evaluate Academic Relevance: While personal interest is vital, ensure your chosen topic aligns with academic goals and curriculum requirements. Some English literature research paper topics, while intriguing, might not offer substantial academic value for a particular course or level of study.
• Seek Familiar Ground (But Not Too Familiar): Leverage your previous readings and coursework. Familiarity offers a foundation, but challenge yourself to explore uncharted territories within that domain. If you enjoyed Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice , maybe delve into its feminist interpretations or comparative studies with other contemporaneous works.
• Embrace Complexity: Opt for English literature research paper topics that lend themselves to multifaceted exploration. Simple topics might not provide enough depth for comprehensive research papers. Instead of a general overview of Romantic poetry, explore the portrayal of nature in Wordsworth’s works versus Shelley’s.
• Historical and Cultural Context: Literature isn’t created in a vacuum. Understand the historical and societal backdrop of a literary work. This context can offer a fresh perspective and can be an excellent lens for your research.
• Contemporary Relevance: How does a particular work or literary period converse with today’s world? Exploring the modern implications or relevance of classic works can be both enlightening and academically rewarding.
• Diverse Interpretations: Embrace English literature research paper topics open to various interpretations. Works like George Orwell’s 1984 or Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot can be analyzed from political, psychological, existential, or linguistic viewpoints.
• Consult with Peers and Professors: Engage in discussions with classmates and seek advice from professors. Their feedback can provide new perspectives or refine your existing topic ideas.
• Read Critiques and Literary Journals: Academic journals, critiques, and literary analyses offer insights into popular research areas and can help you identify gaps or lesser-explored aspects of a work or period.
• Flexibility is Key: As you delve deeper into your research, be open to tweaking or even changing your topic. New findings or challenges might necessitate slight shifts in your research focus.

Choosing the right research topic in English literature requires a blend of personal passion, academic relevance, and the potential for in-depth exploration. By aligning your interests with academic goals, and being open to exploration and adaptation, you pave the way for a fulfilling and academically enriching research experience. Remember, the journey of researching and understanding literature can be as enlightening as the end result. Embrace the process, and let the vast ocean of English literature inspire and challenge you.

How to Write an English Literature Research Paper

Penning an English literature research paper is a task that demands meticulous planning, a deep understanding of the subject, and the ability to weave thoughts coherently. English literature, with its vast and rich tapestry, offers endless avenues for exploration, making it both an exciting and daunting endeavor. Below are step-by-step guidelines to craft a compelling research paper in this domain:

• Understanding the Assignment: Before diving into the research phase, ensure you fully understand the assignment’s requirements. Is there a specific format? Are certain sources mandatory? What’s the word count? This foundational clarity sets the stage for efficient research and writing.
• Preliminary Research: Start with a broad exploration of your topic. Read general articles, introductory chapters, or review papers. This will give you a general overview and can help narrow down your focus.
• Thesis Statement Formulation: Your thesis is the backbone of your research paper. It should be clear, precise, and arguable. For instance, instead of writing “Shakespeare’s plays are influential,” you might specify, “ Macbeth illustrates the dire consequences of unchecked ambition.”
• Diving Deeper – Detailed Research: With your thesis in hand, dive deeper into primary (original texts) and secondary sources (critiques, essays). Libraries, academic databases, and literary journals are treasure troves of valuable information.
• Organize Your Findings: Use digital tools, index cards, or notebooks to categorize and annotate your findings. Grouping similar ideas together will make the writing process smoother.
• Drafting an Outline: An organized structure is essential for clarity. Create an outline with clear headings and subheadings, ensuring a logical flow of ideas. This will serve as a roadmap as you write.
• Introduction Crafting: Your introduction should be engaging, offering a glimpse of your thesis and the significance of your study. Remember, first impressions count!
• Literary Analysis: Delve into the text’s intricacies – symbols, themes, character development, stylistic devices, and historical context.
• Critiques and Counter-arguments: Discuss various interpretations of the text, and don’t shy away from addressing dissenting views. This lends credibility and depth to your paper.
• Comparative Analysis (if applicable): Compare the chosen work with others, drawing parallels or highlighting contrasts.
• Maintaining Coherence and Transition: Each paragraph should have a clear main idea and transition smoothly to the next, maintaining the paper’s flow and ensuring the reader’s engagement.
• Conclusion Crafting: Reiterate your thesis and summarize your main findings. Discuss the broader implications of your study, potentially suggesting areas for further exploration.
• Citing Your Sources: Always attribute ideas and quotations to their original authors. Depending on the assigned format (MLA, APA, etc.), ensure that in-text citations and the bibliography are correctly formatted.
• Revision and Proofreading: Once your draft is complete, take a break before revisiting it. Read it aloud to catch awkward phrasings. Check for grammatical errors, consistency in argumentation, and clarity in presenting ideas. Consider seeking peer reviews or utilizing editing tools.
• Seek Feedback: Before final submission, consider sharing your paper with a mentor, professor, or knowledgeable peer. Their insights can be invaluable in refining your research paper.

Writing an English literature research paper is as much an art as it is a science. While meticulous research and structured writing are crucial, allowing your passion for literature to shine through will elevate your paper. Remember, literature is about exploring the human experience, and as you dissect these masterpieces, you’re not just analyzing texts but delving into profound insights about life, society, and humanity. Embrace the journey, and let every step, from research to writing, be a process of discovery.

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16 years of open access humanitarian scholarship, indian literature in english, representing gandhi: a study of mahatma gandhi as a character in selected novels from colonial and post-colonial times.

Mainak Gupta Academic Content Researcher and Writer, Inventive Gentech Solutions, LLP: Kolkata, India Rupkatha Journal , Vol. 15, Issue 3, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.07 [Article History : Received: 05 January 2023. Revised: 10 August 2023. Accepted: 15 August 2023. Published: 20 August 2023.] Full-Text PDF   Issue Access

The 1930s saw the rise of Mahatma Gandhi as the frontline leader of India’s struggle against the British imperialists, and it was also a decade when the Indian novel in English came of age, with the publication of Mulk Raj Anand’s Untouchable , R.K. Narayan’s Swami and Friends and Raja Rao’s Kanthapura within a few years of each other. The English novel in India grew as a consequence of the English education introduced by the British, and it was used as a weapon against the imperialists by a bunch of young men who were primarily educated abroad, with an aim to use a universal language that addressed all Indians all over the world. Gandhi, unsurprisingly, became a great source of inspiration for these writers. Gandhi has been a subject of literature and other forms of art to this day, but the portrayal of the ‘Great-soul’ (as Tagore called Gandhi) has gone through a change since the pre-independence days. This essay analyses the change in the portrayal of Gandhi by close-reading four novels, Untouchable (1935) and Kanthapura (1938) from the colonised period, and Waiting for the Mahatma (1955) and Dhorai Charit Manas (1950) from the post-independence era. The essay shows how the portrayal of Gandhi and Gandhism went through a change in the novels from the colonial period to post-colonial times, as the reverence and deification of Gandhi that was so prevalent in the novels of the colonial time gave way to a more humane portrayal of the most influential leader of India’s freedom struggle.

Keywords : Mahatma Gandhi; Indian fiction in English; Mulk Raj Anand; Raja Rao; R.K. Narayan; Satinath Bhaduri; Indian freedom struggle [Sustainable Development Goals: Quality Education] Citation : Gupta, Mainak. 2023. Representing Gandhi: A Study of Mahatma Gandhi as a Character in Selected Novels from Colonial and Post-Colonial Times. Rupkatha Journal 15:3. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n3.07

Of Maternal Uncles and Mangalik Brides: Sakuni in the Folk Narrations of The Mahabharata

Seema Sinha 1 , Kumar Sankar Bhattacharya 2 & Sailaja Nandigama 3 1 Ph.D. and a Post-Doc from the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan. Email: [email protected] 2 Associate Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan. Email: [email protected] 3 Associate Professor, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS Pilani, Pilani Campus, Rajasthan. Email: [email protected]

[Received February 10 2023, modified 24 July 2023, accepted 25 July 2023, first published 29 July 2023]

Rupkatha Journal , Vol. 15, Issue 2, 2023. https://doi.org/10.21659/rupkatha.v15n2.23 Full-Text PDF Issue Access

Abstract The timelessness of The Mahabharata lies in its ability to re-invent itself, thereby giving the society a chance to re-negotiate, revise, and revive the discourse. It also gives the so-called ‘villains of the piece’, well established in the ‘rogues’ gallery’, a chance to redeem themselves. One such character is Sakuni, the ‘shrewd’ maternal uncle of the Kauravas, whose negative image in Vyasa’s textual universe is questioned by the folk renditions of the grand epic. The Oriya Mahabharata by Sarala Das views Sakuni not as the master conspirator who brought about the great war, but as a victim who suffered because of the court politics of the Kauravas. The strong popular culture that supports him is also evident in the narratives of the Kalbelias of Rajasthan, and in the folk renderings of the epic in Kerala. This makes us reflect as to why the meta-narrative has vilified Sakuni and treated him with contempt when the folk traditions view him in a more charitable light, or at least give him the benefit of doubt. This paper utilizes narrative research methods to understand the dehumanization of Sakuni in the dominant discourse. It employs the postmodern theories of psychoanalytical criticism and deconstruction in the study of the petite narratives associated with Sakuni to facilitate engagement, plurality, and divergence in the discourse. The paper attempts to read the chronicles of self, society, and social justice in these lesser-known narratives to liberate Sakuni from his filial debt and relocate him into the discursive universe.

Keywords : The Mahabharata , Sakuni, discursive, petite narratives, oral tradition, plurality, social justice

[ Sustainable Development Goals: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions, Reduced Inequalities]

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  Volume 12, Number 4, July-September, 2020  I  Full Text PDF

DOI:  10.21659/rupkatha.v12n4.13

A victim of the partition of Eastern India/undivided Bengal, a refugee is one who has ironically left behind the real but has carried on forever indelibly imprinted in memory that which is lost and remembered in superlatives, thus moving and simultaneously resisting to move. Remaining mentally anchored forever on ‘Bengal’s shore’ and having been denied the moment of adequate articulation of the loss in factual terms partly due to immediate trauma and partly due to the inherent politics of the language of standard literary expression vis-à-vis spoken language (Bangla vs Bangal respectively) with its hierarchic positionings, as well as the politics of state policy that attributed partition of Western India primordial signification, the Bengali Hindu refugee migrating from erstwhile East Pakistan (and now Bangladesh) to India, has never ‘really’ spoken and this is the hypothesis of this argument. Thus, what is heard, being far removed from the historical moment of rupture that was partition and with the loss of that fateful generation is bound to be ‘fiction’ and not ‘fact’. This paper proposes that since the refugee voice was denied adequate articulation of the ‘facts’ and the ‘fears’ resultant from partition in this part of Eastern India, that historical moment of perception and documentation has been irretrievably lost. Hence any attempt at documenting the same now shall obviously result in fictionalization of and fantasizing the loss as is evident in original and translational post-Independence Indian English Fiction -the moment of loss being the moment of fictional genesis. This paper also puts forward the necessity of identifying two specific periods beyond ‘independence’ whose axiomatic point would be the partition of Eastern India/ undivided Bengal viz. pre-partition and post-partition Indian Literature. The same shall apply to Indian English Literature both in original and translation.

Keywords : fear, fantasy, fact, fiction, partition, canonical historiography, refugee, independence, Indian English fictional space, inter-semiotic, translation.

Representing Kolkata : A Study of ‘Gaze’ Construction in Amit Chaudhuri’s Calcutta: Two Years in the City and Bishwanath Ghosh’s Longing Belonging: An Outsider at Home in Calcutta

Saurabh Sarmadhikari

Assistant Professor, Department of English, Gangarampur College, Dakshin Dinajpur, West Bengal. ORCID: 0000-0002-8577-4878 . Email:  [email protected]

  Volume 12, Number 3, 2020  I  Full Text PDF

DOI:  10.21659/rupkatha.v12n3.32

Indian travel writings in English exclusively on Kolkata have been rare even though tourist guidebooks such as the Lonely Planet have dedicated sections on the city. In such a scenario, Amit Chaudhuri’s Calcutta: Two Years in the City (2016) and Bishwanath Ghosh’s Longing Belonging: An Outsider at Home in Calcutta (2014) stand out as exceptions. Both these narratives, written by probashi (expatriate) Bengalis, represent Kolkata though a bifocal lens. On the one hand, their travels are a journey towards rediscovering their Bengali roots and on the other, their representation/construction of the city of Kolkata is as hard-boiled as any seasoned traveller. The contention of this paper is that both Chaudhuri and Ghosh foreground certain selected/pre-determined signifiers that are common to Kolkata for the purpose of their representation which are instrumental in constructing the ‘gaze’ of their readers towards the city. This process of ‘gaze’ construction is studied by applying John Urry and Jonas Larsen’s conceptualization of the ‘tourist gaze’. Borrowing the Foucauldian concept of ‘gaze’, Urry and Larsen state that ‘gazing’ is a discursive practice that is both constituted by the filters of the gazer’s cultural moorings as well as the institutionalized mechanisms of the travel/tourism industry which rely significantly on the deployment of signs and signifiers to construct the ‘gaze’ of the travellers and the tourists towards a tourist destination. The present paper seeks to analyze how both Chaudhuri and Ghosh use ‘selective’ signifiers of the city of Kolkata to construct the ‘gaze’ of their readers towards the city in their representation.

Keywords: representation, gaze, construction, Kolkata, travel narratives

The Therapeutic Value of Indian Classical, Folk and Innovative Dance Forms

Arpita Chatterjee, Barasat College, West Bengal State University, India Download PDF Version  Abstract Dance provides an active, non-competitive form of

The Essentials of Indianness: Tolerance and Sacrifice in Indian Partition Fiction in English and in English Translation

Indian Partition fiction, on the one hand, records man’s bestiality and savagery and on the other, attests to the fact

Representation of the ‘National Self’— Novelistic Portrayal of a New Cultural Identity in Gora

Dipankar Roy,Visva-Bharati, India  Abstract Any colonial rule involves a systematic and ruthless attack on the culture and heritage of the

Book Review: The Silent Witness (2019) by Anuradha

Publisher: Jaico Publishing House (January 1, 2019)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 9387944611

ISBN-13: 978-9387944619

Reviewed by

Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, BITS-Pilani (Hyderabad Campus). Email: [email protected]

  Volume 12, Number 2, April-June, 2020  I  Full Text PDF

DOI:  10.21659/rupkatha.v12n2.21

Narratives on territorial conquest, occupation and settlement have dominated postcolonial studies for decades. There has been a considerable dearth of fictional accounts surrounding the European invasion of port cities via the sea routes and subsequent trade monopoly over the spices. The Indian Ocean has been the vortex of political activities and cross-cultural links. The ports along the Malabar coastline was of great interest to not just for one; but three competing super-powers namely the Portuguese, the Dutch and British. The trade links commenced with the onslaught of Greek traders who came to ports like Muzhiri or Mucheripatanam (Malabar) and Pum Puhar (Madurai) during 2nd century AD. Experts on Mediterranean maritime history like Vincent A. Smith points out as to how ports like Pum Puhar had the good fortune to attract traders across the globe as they were rich in three precious commodities “Pepper, pearls and beryl” (Smith 400) In fact, historical accounts of Warmington point out as to how there was a drain of Roman wealth as “Romans showed a taste for excessive decoration of fingers and by the use of gems to cover conches, garlands, armour etc. The practice of collecting gems became common during the 1st century AD and Saurus, Julius Caesar, and Marcellus were all collectors of precious stones. (131) However, the last of the European traders who came since 1498, the Portuguese, Dutch and British had imperialistic designs apart from sheer mercenary motives.

The Silent Witness (2019) by Anuradha, (translated from Malayalam by Nirmala Aravind) is a historic novel which explores the descent of Portuguese and Dutch suzerainty in the princely states of Kochi (central part of Kerala). She traverses backwards in time; to explain how these princely states became a pawn to the imperial project, due to their internal dissensions thereby paving way to an easy colonization by Portuguese and Dutch from the 15 th to 18 th C. In addition, the novel also highlights the ‘cosmopolitanism’ and ‘shared culture’ which emerged as a result of these trade and colonial interventions. All the historic events of the novel are juxtaposed around the plot to; both ‘hold and foil’ the forthcoming coronation of Kerala Varma as the ruler of Kochi. Running parallel to the plot is; the love interest of Veera Kerala Varma (Kerala Varma’s younger brother) and the niece of rival kingdom’s (Chempakassery) chieftain, Unnimaya.

The novel subtly hints to its audience as to how the Dutch were much better and more popular than the Portuguese. Novelist Anuradha charts out reasons for the latter’s unpopularity; like introduction of opium to masses whose “inordinate consumption” (13) destroyed public health and drained resources. She also directs the reader’s attention to the terror Portuguese ships triggered in the Indian Ocean by their canon-loaded caramel ships, and the restrictions imposed on ships which did not have a Portuguese trade permit or cartazas to ply the Indian Ocean. The novel is equally blatant about the Portuguese forcible conversions and exclusion of the Syrian Christians and their entry to places like Fort Emanuel or Fort Kochi. Nevertheless, many of the historic incidents especially that which deals with the Portuguese has been ardently dealt in Malayalam films like Urumi , Pazhazhi Raja and in briefer versions in few novels like N.S Madhavan’s book Litanies of Dutch Battery and Johny Miranda’s Requiem for the Living .

However, the most refreshing aspect of Anuradha’s novel remains her representation of Dutch in Kerala. Very few novelists have covered the socio-political implications of the Dutch regime and the coalition of three rulers of Kerala namely the Zamorins (Samoothiris) of Calicut, the Cochin kings and the Queen of Kollam to oust the Portuguese from power. Towards the concluding part, the novel also highlights the peaceful reign of Veera Kerala Varma under the Dutch over lordship. The novel insinuates the readers to analyse the reason why Kerala became a hotspot for violence and terror and susceptible to the hegemony of foreign invaders.

The novelist has engaged in a meticulous research of the 15 to 17 th century and notably included most of the major events that occurred during the period. Anuradha  has recreated or fictionalized real historic characters like Itty Achutan Vaidyan of the Kollad family who influenced the Dutch Governor, Van Rheede, with his knowledge of medicinal plants. As the plot progresses the audience is introduced to Itty Achutan’s treatment of Van Rheede’s painful boil on his foot with courtyard herbs like neem leaves, raw turmeric horanthus (186). The successful treatment led to the compilation of Horticus Malabaricus or “The Garden of Malabar” which was considered one of the most important treatise on the medicinal plants of Malabar. In addition, the religious tolerance of the Dutch is highlighted repeatedly in the book by contrasting it with the ‘forcible conversion of natives’ policy adopted by the Portuguese making most of the indigenous natives turn indignantly against the Portuguese rule. Although the book casts the Dutch regime as more benevolent as compared to the Portuguese, a closer look of the sub-text reveal at times; the tyranny and bloodshed  Dutch inflicted on the Portuguese women and children while conquering Fort Emanuel popularly known as the jewel of Dutch throne.

Temples and temple festivals are sites of faith and power dynamics and cultural transactions in Kerala society. The novelist has truthfully invoked famous and leading temples of Kerala like the Guruvayoor temple, Vaddakanathan temple, the Poornathrayesha temple, Ambalapuzha temple, adding to the authencity of the cultural setting of the novel and drawing attention to pivotal role temples played in the lives of royal families. However, the novelist has left out inclusion of a few important temple events like the attack on the famous Guruvayoor temple by the Dutch and razing of the flagstaff which could have further enhanced the authenticity of the novel. In addition, the novel also has a few historic flaws like attributing Zamorin Manavedan’s uncle as the composer of Krishnagiti (the text of dance form Krishnattam). Krishnagiti was actually composed by Prince Manaveda who became the Zamorin in 1665. ( Bush 21). Another flaw that can be discerned is the representation of the Vadekkara Palace, the palace of Cochin kings for ages; as the palace of Zamorin Manavedan where he has a clandestine meeting with Kerala Varma.

Running parallel to the political anxieties of the protagonist Kerala Varma and his brother Veera Kerala Varma is the story concerning the closest ally of the Kochi princes, known as the Ali Marrakar. Ali Marrakar and his pirate troops on sea called Marrakar pada supported and defended Kochi at the time of crisis. The other close allies of Samoothiri and Cochin kings like Mangath Achan, Paliyath Achan find a place in the narrative. The book also draws the attention of the readers to the fact that in many princely states it was the Queen who took care of the administrative affairs of the kingdom. For example, the Queen of Kollam not only entertained her guests at the Puthukulangara Palace but also initiated political discussions. This delineates the power and agency woman had to take decisions and also efficiently execute the same.

The overall novelty of theme in English fiction makes it an excellent read for both book lovers and students of literature and history. In fact, the dual focus on colonial interventions in port cities and the resistance put up by the local rulers against the Portuguese makes it a an important text for postcolonial analysis as well.

Works Cited

Bush, Martha et al. 2015. The Royal Temple Theatre of Krishnattam. DK Printworld, New Delhi

Madhavan N. S. 2010. Litanies of Dutch Battery . (Trans. Rajesh Rajamohan). Penguin, New Delhi

Warmington, E.H. 1928. The Commerce between the Roman Empire and India (2nd edition) CUP, Cambridge

Smith, V. A. 1924. Early History of India . (4th edition),  OUP, London

Dr. Maya Vinai has been working as Assistant Professor at BITS-Pilani (Hyderabad Campus) since 2012. Her research interests include Temple Art Forms in South India, Representation of Matrilineal Communities in Literature, Food and Culture in South Asian Literature, and the impact of Dutch and Portuguese Colonialism in South India .  Her critical works have been featured in several national and international journals like South Asian Review, Asiatic- IIUM, Rupkatha Journal on Interdisciplinary Studies on Humanities and IUP Journal of English Studies. She has also authored a book titled Interrogating Caste and Gender in Anita Nair’s Fiction.

Privacy Overview

MEG-07: Indian English Literature

Shri Aurobindo  opines that   Indian Culture has sufficient dynamic qualities to save the world. India is special to Aurobindo for its spirituality. Hence it is time to reflect on the importance of Indian English Literature.

Why should we study it?

The course on Indian English literature is an endeavor to retain the niche, an effort to revive the life and spirit, to dictate the lost taste, to discover reputation and   fall back upon time tested resources in an effort to revive the life of the spirit, to ascertain our place in the contemporary cultural scene in a civilized world.

The course talks about the trio-Mulk Raj Anand, R.K.Narayan and Raja Rao. It helps you  understand the philosophy of the first generation novelist who affirmed their faith in the undying traditions of the country with its continuity and vitality.

Outstanding Indian orators like Vivekanand, Tilak and Shrinivasa Sastri are discussed in the course.

The course gives you a detailed account of non-fictional prose ranging from Vivekananda, to  Shri Aurobindo, Coomarswamy , Gandhi and Nehru, etc.

The Indian tradition of writing in English continues with the women writers.  They avowedly refuse to be considered pure feminists with a preoccupation with a female psyche only. Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Subhadra, Sen Gupta, Raja Narsiman, Geeta Hariharan, etc are on the list who write in an affirmative view rather than breaking the fabric of social life.

The Course talks about the success achieved by Roy, Rushdie and Seth because they display an inventiveness which, while breaking all ground rules of English, creates a register close to Vernacular Indian Tongue.

The course on Indian English Literature presents an overview that both Diaspora and Native writers do not forsake India and remain preoccupied with Indian ethos and multilingual complexity.

Page Visits

Course layout, instructor bio.

Dr. Anamika Shukla

MA in English Literature, she specializes in Indian English Literature and is a Ph.D. in American Literature, pursued research at American Studies Research Centre, (ASRC) Hyderabad. She is a resource person to the UGC – Human Resource Development Centre at various states and central universities. She has contributed as a resource person at National Resource Center, SavitriBai Phule University, Pune for the SWAYAM platform.

She has been an expert member in the Discipline of English for the committee constituted by UGC for the selection of candidates under the Post Doctoral Fellowship Scheme, Research Award Scheme and Emeritus Fellowship Scheme of the UGC.

She has also been on the list of experts for preparing Self Learning Material of MP Bhoj Open University, Bhopal M.P.

She is a member of the Board of Studies of various universities namely, Dr. B.R Ambedkar National Law University, Rai, Sonepat Haryana and Department of Higher Studies and Foreign Languages, Chhatrapati Sahu Maharaj University, Kanpur. Presently, she is member, School Board of various Schools of Studies of Indira Gandhi National Open University, New Delhi.

Her areas of interest are Creative Writing, ICT interventions in the Humanities, Teaching English as a Second Language, Studies in Culture and Literary Heritage and Interdisciplinary Studies, She is presently working on Indian knowledge systems and English Communication Skills.

She has published books on Saul Bellow, Pedagogy & Teaching of English Language. She has to her credit articles and research papers published in National / International Journals. She appears on the editorial board of journals. She is also a research guide and has successfully supervised PhDs under her guidance.

School of Humanities   

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