The objectives of the course include an introduction to the most important branch of
English literature of the non-British tradition. It seeks to provide an overview of the
processes and texts that led to the evolution of American literature as an independent
branch or school of literature.
Course a comprehensive understanding of the socio-historical and literary background of English Literature and various other Literatures in English.
Module 3: Syntax
Structuralism: Contributions of Bloomfield – IC Analysis – disambiguation using IC analysis,
limitations of IC analysis – PS grammar – PS rules: context free and context sensitive rules,
optional and obligatory rules TG Grammar Components – transformational and generative
––Deep structure and surface structure, “Aspects” model – transformations: passivisation –
do support – affix hopping–WH movement
Traditional grammar – fallacies – Saussure, system and structure, language as a system of
signs, Saussurean dichotomies: synchronic - diachronic, signifier- signified, syntagmatic –
paradigmatic, langue – parole, form – substance.
This course introducs the learners to the subtleties of Epistemology by acquainting them with various seminal texts on Literary Theory. The course empowers the learners to engage in rigourous critiques of theoretical notions and the praxes of critical readings to disentangle the fabric of various cultural or discursive constructs.
This course involves a discussion of the Postmodernism/post-modernism debate and the
problematics of definition. It subjects to analysis poetry which was anti-sceptical and sensitive to
the realities of religion and metaphysics. The selected texts create an awareness of the suspect
nature of language, the manipulative power of art, the fragility of character, the relativity of value
and perception and the collapse of the absolute. Irish voices, female perspectives and public
engagement of poetry also come in for discussion. In the field of fiction too typical postmodern
features and devices like self-reflexivity and multiculturalism need to be focused. Drama: theatre
of the absurd, Psychodrama and experimental theatre will be some of the features calling for
discussion.
The course includes an introduction to the changed literary perspectives in the twentieth
century along with the social, economic and political background. Imperial expansion
which had reached a boiling point the onset of the World War I coupled with the attempts
at creating a new world order remained some of the key issues. The impact of the Soviet
experiment at the global level that needs to be read against the backdrop of the spread
and influence of Marxism on a global scale calls for a radical review of world politics. This
was followed by the rise of Fascism and Nazism followed curiously by the shadow of doubt
cast over communism. In the literary field reaction against Romanticism and Victorianism
led to experimentation in writing in all genres. Starting from the poetry of World War I the
movement traverses a wide range of concerns topics and forms of writing. The discussion
also includes movements like the avant-garde, the Pink Decade and so forth.
The Puritan England was a period of major social and political upheavals including the Civil War. The age witnessed the struggle between the King and the Parliament for domination. Eventually, Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the puritans, could form the Commonwealth and Charles I was executed in 1649. The puritan movement based on honesty, righteousness, intellectuality and freedom proved too severe for the people and this led to the restoration of Monarchy. Meanwhile the rash acts such as the closure of the theatres had done enough damage to literature. The political turmoil notwithstanding, the age could herald a scientific outlook and temperament. This led to the formation of a number of intellectual institutions including the Royal Society. In the society too, the considerable increase in production resulted in the formation of a number of economic institutions. In the field of literature, the era also witnessed the emergence of a number of genres. Scientific revolutions, the evolution of new religious concepts, and the new philosophical streams of thought need to be introduced. Rationalism and the consequent establishment of the autonomous human subject (cogito) are to be presented as instrumental in the progress of the Enlightenment. The social changes made significant and revolutionary changes in the field of literature. This revolution in ideas and techniques of execution, a blend of new knowledge and new sensibility led to a profound outpouring of diverse genres and sub genres of literature and the literature of the Revolution and Enlightenment was able to make a significant contribution in the domain of literature.
The course is designed as one that situates the timeless genius of Shakespeare across cultures, literatures and authors. Indeed, Shakespeare has inspired more authors than any other writer. This is reflected in the number of rereading of his plays down the centuries in various genres including theatre and film. This course addresses the impact of Shakespeare at the theoretical and textual levels.
This course bids the learners' intimate attention to the historical, cultural and theoretical dimensions of Comparative Literature in general and Indian Comparative Literature in particular. The course also offers opportunity to the learner for close readings of select texts, comprising major literary genres, to decipher the common and diverse elements and trends in Indian literature.
Throughout the nineteenth century, periodicals published both in Britain and in the colonies featured aspects of the imperial experience. The course attempts to cover through representative texts the writing, reading and critical-theoretical practices based on the colonial experience. Postcolonial literature reveals the motives and limitations of what it means to write from a place and in a language moulded by colonial history at a time, when the writers concerned are not free from the forces of colonial domination.
The students are expected to acquire familiarity with -- and the ability to define and use - - the terminology specific to colonial and postcolonial discourses. The introductory and reference volumes in the reading list will be helpful in this respect (Key Concepts in Postcolonial Studies, Beginning Postcolonialism).An attempt is made in this paper to acquaint the students with the diverse genres of postcolonial literature..
Course Description:
- The course attempts to cover through representative texts the writing, reading and critical- theoretical practices based on the colonial experience. Postcolonial literature reveals the motives and limitations of what it means to write from a place and in a language moulded by colonial history at a time, when the writers concerned are not free from the forces of colonial domination. In the age of asynchronous decolonization the postcolonial writers have to face the dilemma of establishing a space between assimilation and resistance to colonial culture and the writers encounter the burden between being shaped by and giving shape to a new colonial language. While a major segment of the course addresses the consequences of European expansion and the creation and exploitation of the “other” worlds, the course also addresses “internal colonisations” of diverse kinds, including the double colonization of women of colour. Some of the studies require the students to revisit texts they have encountered in previous semesters (The Tempest, Heart of Darkness, A Passage to India)
The student has to be made conscious of the colonial context in which Indian English developed as a language and literature. Nineteenth century attempts at poetry, the emergence of Indian English fiction and drama, the differences in the thematic and stylistic aspects between the pre independence and post-independence periods, the impact of historical situations like the Emergency, and the influence of western modernism and postmodernism on Indian writing are to receive central focus. Issues relating to the use of the coloniser’s language, the diverse ramifications of power in the Indian subcontinent, features of Diaspora writing, the nature of the Indian reality reflected in a non-Indian tongue, the socio-cultural economic, and gender concerns addressed in these texts etc. Have to be broached in the pedagogical context. Some major works of Indian literature translated into English also are to be introduced to give a smack of Indianness.
The course covers the period up to the end of the Caroline age. Major genres like tragedy, tragicomedy, epic, romance, ballad, farces etc., concepts like humanism, the new world need to be introduced. The major authors in the course include Shakespeare, Jonson and Marlowe. At the same time care has been taken to place the authors and the texts in the proper historical perspective.
This course introduces the learner to various literary genres of the Renaissance period in English literature. Apart from acquainting with the literature of the period, the course intends to cultiavte a critical acumen in the learners by theorising and critiquing the literary practices of the era.
objectives:
To familiarize the student with the key concepts and texts of literary criticism ever since its emergence, and to provide practical and theoretical familiarity with the range, approaches, and mechanics of academic writing.