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.

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