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.
Overview
Syllabus
Week
Topics
Week-1: Block-1 Non-Fiction Prose
Unit-1: Non-Fictional Prose: A Survey
Unit-2: Swami Vivekananda, Sri Aurobindo and Ananda Coomaraswamy
Week-2: Block-1 Non-Fiction Prose
Unit-3: Gandhi
Unit-4: Jawaharlal Nehru
Week-3: Block-1 Non-Fiction Prose
Unit 5: Nirad C. Chaudhuri
Unit-6: Vikram Seth and Amitav Ghosh
Week-4: Block-2 Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchable
Unit-1: A Short History of the Indian English Novel
Unit-2: Life and Work of Mulk Raj Anand
Week-5: Block-2 Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchable
Unit-3: Untouchable: Title, Theme, Plot and Characterisation
Unit-4: The Picture of a Fragmented Nation in Anand’s Untouchable
Week-6: Block-2 Mulk Raj Anand: Untouchable
Unit-5: The Gandhian Influence
Unit-6: Style
Week-7: Block-3 Raja Rao: Kanthapura
Unit-1: Raja Rao: Career and Works
Unit-2: Kanthapura: Background
Week-8: Block-3 Raja Rao: Kanthapura
Unit-3: Kanthapura: Themes
Unit-4: Kanthapura: Structure and Technique
Week-9: Block-3 Raja Rao: Kanthapura
Unit-5: Kanthapura: Characters
Week-10: Block-4 Anita Desai: Clear Light of Day
Unit-1: Anita Desai: Life, Works and the Language Issue
Unit-2: Clear Light of Day: Themes, Techniques, Times
Week-11: Block-4 Anita Desai: Clear Light of Day
Unit-3: Political Dimension, Major Characters
Unit-4: Music, Minor Characters
Week-12: Block-4 Anita Desai: Clear Light of Day
Unit-5: Anita Desai’s Contribution to Indian English Fiction
Week-13: Block-5 Midnight’s Children
Unit-1: Background
Unit-2: Midnight’s Children: The De-Doxified English
Week-14: Block-5 Midnight’s Children
Unit-3: Themes in Midnight’s Children
Unit-4: Techniques in Midnight’s Children
Week-15: Block-5 Midnight’s Children
Unit-5: Characterization in Midnight’s Children
Unit-6: Midnight’s Children as a Literary Event
Week-16: Block-6 The Short Story
Unit-1: About the Short Story
Unit-2: R. K. Narayan
Week-17: Block-6 The Short Story
Unit-3: Arun Koshi and Manoj Das
Unit-4: Subhadra Sen Gupta and Raji Narasimhan
Week-18: Block-6 The Short Story
Unit-5: Shahsi Deshpande and Githa Hariharan
Unit-6: Ruskin Bond
Week-19: Block-7 Poetry
Unit-1: Background to Indian English Poetry
Unit-2: Henry Derozio and Toru Dutt
Week-20: Block-7 Poetry
Unit-3: Sri Aurobindo and Sarojini Naidu
Unit-4: Nissim Ezekiel and Kamala Das
Week-21: Block-7 Poetry
Unit-5: A. K. Ramanujan, Arun Kolatkar and Jayanta Mahapatra
Unit-6: R. Parthasarathy and Keki N. Daruwalla
Week-22: Block-8 Mahesh Dattani: Tara
Unit-1: An Overview of Indian English Drama
Unit-2: A Preview of Dattani’s Dramatic World
Week-23: Block-8 Mahesh Dattani: Tara
Unit-3: Reading Tara
Week-24: Block-8 Mahesh Dattani: Tara
Unit-4: Appreciating Tara
Taught by
Dr. Anamika Shukla
