Language, Literature and Culture (Theory)

Paper Code: 
25GENG201
Credits: 
4
Periods/week: 
4
Max. Marks: 
100
Objective: 

The Course will enable the students to gain an understanding of the intricate relationship between language and diverse cultures and engage with the socio-cultural contexts of specific time periods.

Course Outcomes: 

The students will:

CO1. Understand the relationship between language and various cultures; and its usage on the basis of existing differences of race, ethnicity and culture

CO2. Familiarize themselves with the socio-cultural milieu of the time; the trends and individual style of the representative writers

CO3.  Develop an awareness of Indian culture via ancient and medieval literature

CO4. Examine the interface between culture and society through a reading of selected non-fictional works

CO5. Appreciate how media and culture impact and influence each other, through non-literary works

CO6.Contribute effectively in course-specific interaction

10.00
Unit I: 

Language and Communication

  Definition and Characteristics of Language

 

Martin Luther King Jr.

I Have a Dream

 
11.00
Unit II: 

Ancient and Medieval Literature 

Veda Vyasa

The Mahabharata: The Ekalavya Episode

 

Mirabai

‘I Know Only Krsna’

 
14.00
Unit III: 

Modern Indian Literature 

Faiz Ahmad Faiz

Do Not Ask

 

Rabindranath Tagore

The Kabuliwallah

 

Ismat Chugtai

Touch-Me-Not

 
11.00
Unit IV: 

Culture and Society in Contemporary India-I

The Idea of Culture

‘Towards a Definition of Culture’, in India and World Culture (New Delhi: Sahitya Academy, 1986)

14.00
Unit V: 

Culture and Society in Contemporary India-II

George Orwell

Shooting an Elephant

 Bill Atiken 

 And the Rivers Thereof (from Seven Sacred Rivers)

SUGGESTED READINGS: 

Suggested Reference Books:

 

Crystal, David. The Stories of English. Penguin, 2005.  

 Das, Sisir Kumar. A History of Indian Literature, 1911-1956: Struggle for Freedom: Triumph and Tragedy. Sahitya Akademi, 2005.  

 Eagleton, Terry. Literary Theory: An Introduction. Blackwell, 2008.  

 Kachru, Braj B. The Indianization of English: The English Language in India. Oxford UP, 1983.  

 Mukherjee, Meenakshi. Realism and Reality: The Novel and Society in India. Oxford UP, 1985.  

 Nandy, Ashis. The Intimate Enemy: Loss and Recovery of Self under Colonialism. Oxford UP, 1983.  

 Tharu, Susie, and K. Lalita, editors. Women Writing in India: 600 B.C. to the Present. The Feminist Press, 1993.  

 

E-Resources including links: 

"How Much Does Our Language Shape Our Thinking?" The New Yorker, 30 Dec. 2024, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/how-much-does-our-language-shape-o...

 

Reference Journals:

Krishnaswamy, N. "The Politics of Indian English." Language in India, vol. 2, 2002, pp. 1-15.  

 Mishra, Pankaj. "The Invention of India." The New York Review of Books, 11 Feb. 2010, www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/02/11/the-invention-of-india/.  

 Narasimhaiah, C.D. "Indian Writing in English: A View of the Task Ahead." Indian Literature, vol. 35, no. 3, 1992, pp. 125-137.  

 Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture, edited by Cary Nelson and Lawrence Grossberg, U of Illinois P, 1988, pp. 271-313.  

 Viswanathan, Gauri. "Masks of Conquest: Literary Study and British Rule in India." Oxford Literary Review, vol. 9, 1987, pp. 2-20.  

 

 

Academic Year: 
2025-2026