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.
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
Language and Communication
Definition and Characteristics of Language
Martin Luther King Jr.
I Have a Dream
Ancient and Medieval Literature
Veda Vyasa
The Mahabharata: The Ekalavya Episode
Mirabai
‘I Know Only Krsna’
Modern Indian Literature
Faiz Ahmad Faiz
Do Not Ask
Rabindranath Tagore
The Kabuliwallah
Ismat Chugtai
Touch-Me-Not
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)
Culture and Society in Contemporary India-II
George Orwell
Shooting an Elephant
Bill Atiken
And the Rivers Thereof (from Seven Sacred Rivers)
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... [2]
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/. [3]
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.
Links:
[1] https://english.iisuniv.ac.in/courses/subjects/language-literature-and-culture-theory
[2] http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/12/30/how-much-does-our-language-shape-our-thinking.
[3] http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2010/02/11/the-invention-of-india/.
[4] https://english.iisuniv.ac.in/academic-year/2025-2026