Course Code ENG 405 Course Title South Asian Literature in English

Course Type Core Pre-requisite (If any)

Sun/Tue – 12 to 2 PM
Contact Hours /
Credit Value 3 Mon/Wed – 12 to 2 PM
Week
Rm 8007
Year 2024 Semester Autumn (2:40 to 4:10) C4002

Instructor: Dr. Hafiza Nilofar Khan

Course Rationale
A rich and varied tradition of South Asian literature in English exists today, but even as late as
1970s, English writings by native or diasporan South Asians were generally not included in the
canons of English Literature. A course exclusively on South Asian writers (male as well as
female) and their works allows an extensive look at some of the common colonial, postcolonial
and postmodern concerns that writers from countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Afghanistan, or Sri Lank share. This type of course can also facilitate a deeper understanding of
the respective differences among South Asian writers with regards to glocal issues. Last but not
least, a course designed with South Asian fiction in English brings awareness of the history,
positionality, contributions and future of a relatively new, but already enriched literature.

Course Contents
This course provides a historical overview of South Asian Literature in English that germinated
as a result of British colonial rule in India and consecutive migration of the people of the Indian
subcontinent from the late 18th century till today. The primary focus of the course however, is on
fiction written by some of the oft canonized contemporary writers of South Asian literature in
English, such as Bharati Mukherjee, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh, Monica Ali, Jhumpa
Lahiri, Mohsin Hamid etc. Some Postcolonial critics and theorists will also be included in this
course under Recommended Reading in order to interpret some of the common thematic and
stylistic features of the texts in hand.

Course Objectives
This course is designed to help students critically analyze acclaimed fiction by South Asian
writers writing in English. It will emphasize basic understanding of the multifarious forces that
shape the writers’ perspectives on the intersectionality of gender, class, location, ethnicity,
religion, age, and sexuality in the light of geographical, historical, economic, religious, and
socio-political contexts. An important goal of the course also includes familiarizing students with
an overview of the new narrative styles, idioms and themes that South Asian writing brings to
the field of English literature.

Mapping Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) with the Teaching-Learning& Assessment

Strategy:
Teaching- Corres-
Assessment
Readings Learning pondin
Strategy
Strategy g CLOs

Wk 1  Introduction and Syllabus

 Ipshita Chanda

Sept  Video

Sun
29th ● Participati ● CLO
● Lectures
on in class 1
● Class discussion
● CLO
discussion
2
 Fakrul: “Imagining South Asian
Writing. . .”
Oct  Shruti
Tue  Stripe
1st

Wk 2 ● Lectures ● Participati ● CLO

on in class 1
 Fakrul: “Imperial ● Class discussion
Entanglements. ” discussion ● CLO
Sun
 Hafiza: “Bangladeshi 2
6th Women . . .”
  Test 1 (On Ipshita, Fakrul, Shruti,
Tue Stripe, Hafiza)
8th

Wk 3

Sun
 Off Day
13th ● Participati ● CLO
● Lectures
No on in class 2
class ● Group discussion
 Hanif Kureishi (My Son the ● CLO
discussion
Fanatic) 1

Tue
15th

Wk 4

● Participati ● CLO
Sun on in class 1
● Lectures discussion
20th ● CLO
 Salman Rushdie (Courter) ● Group ● Submissio 3
discussion n of
reaction ● CLO
paper 5
Tue
22nd
Wk 5

Sun ● Tahmima Anam (Anwar Gets ● Participati ● CLO

Everything) ● Lectures
on in class 1
27th ● Group discussion
● CLO
 Anwar cont. discussion
2
 Revision
Tue
29th
Wk 6 ● Analytical ● Midterm ● CLO
 Nov

 Mid Term Test 2

Sun ● CLO
3
3rd
questions ● CLO
 No class 4
● CLO
Tue 5
5th

Wk7

Sun
● Mukherjee: Jasmine
10th ● Participati ● CLO
● Lectures
on in class 1
● Group discussion
● CLO
Tue discussion
2
● Jasmine Cont.
12th

Wk 8
● Jasmine Cont.

Sun
17th ● Participati ● CLO
● Lectures
on in class 1
● Group discussion
● CLO
discussion
● Jasmine Cont. 2
Tue
19th
Wk 9

Sun ● Monica Ali: Brick Lane

● Participati ● CLO
th ● Lectures
24 on in class 1
● Group discussion
● CLO
discussion
2
Tue
26th ● Brick Lane cont.

W10

Dec  Brick Lane Cont.

Sun
● Participati ● CLO
● Lectures
1st on in class 1
● Group discussion
● CLO
discussion
2
Tue  Brick Lane Cont.
3rd

W11 ● CLO
Sun  Test 2 ● Participati 2
on in class
8th ● CLO
● Lectures discussion
3
 Mohsin Hamid ● Group ● Submissio
● CLO
Tue discussion n of
4
Reluctant Fundamentalist second
10 th
paper ● CLO
5

W12 ● RF Cont. ● Lectures ● Participati ● CLO

on in class 1
Sun ● Group
discussion
discussion ● CLO
 15th

● RF Cont. 2
Tue
17th

W13 ● RF Cont.

Sun
● Participati ● CLO
22 nd  Presentation (Power point) ● Lectures on in class 1
● Group discussion
● CLO
discussion
2
Tue
24th

W14

Jan ● CLO
● Exam ● Final 3
Sun
● Final Exam ● Review Exam ● CLO
th
5 4

Grade Breakup:

Marks
Assessment Method Assessment Tools Sub Total
Distribution
 Class Attendance and
15
Participation
Test 1 10
Continuous Assessment Mid Term 20
Test 2 10

Presentation 15

Final Exam 30
Summative Assessment

Total 100

Mapping Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) with Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs):
CLO Corresponding Bloom’s
CLO Statement
No. PLO Taxonomy
CLO Engage with and critically analyse an PO6: Cognitive Level 2
1 array of literary and other texts Communication (Understand)
CLO Contextualize literary and other texts in PO1: Knowledge Cognitive Level 3
2 historical and contemporary settings (Apply)
CLO Identify and describe distinct literary PO3: Investigation Cognitive Level 4
3 characteristics of English literature (Analyze)
Understand the similarities and PO2: Critical Cognitive Level 4
CLO differences among various racial, ethnic, thinking and (Analyze)
4 and/or immigrant experiences in culture, analytical skills
past and present
PO2: Critical
CLO Apply critical reading and analytical
thinking and
5 skills in reading and writing assignments
analytical skills

Course Learning Outcomes

CLO1: Demonstrate awareness and knowledge of different texts written by women and about
women.
CLO2: Read different literary forms and identify motifs, themes and stereotypical patterns in the
texts.
CLO3: Analyze and compare different literary themes and styles.
CLO4: Synthesize lectures and text material to get a solid world view.
CLO5: Evaluate the massages and literary merit in a text.
CLO6: Engage in critical debate on the merit/demerits of different texts,

CLO8: Write a well-organized literary paper.

Required Texts

Bharati Mukherjee -- Jasmine

Monica Ali – Brick Lane

Mohsin Hamid – Reluctant Fundamentalist

Hanif Kureishi : “My son the Fanatic”

Salman Rushdie: “Courter”

Tahmima Anam: “Anwar Gets Everything”

Required Readings/videos:

Ipshita Chanda: “South Asian Writings in English: View from 21st Century.”

https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/engp08/chapter/south-asian-writings-in-english-view-from-
21st-century/

Video on the same topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YicF6c8CQg

Shruti Das: “Against Odds: Identity and Survival - South Asian Literature in English”
https://www.academia.edu/12834171/
Against_Odds_Identity_and_Survival_South_Asian_Literature_in_English

Fakrul Alam: “Imagining South Asian Writing in English from Bangladesh”

https://www.academia.edu/7051348/
Imagining_South_Asian_Writing_in_English_from_Bangladesh
Also in:
https://www.thedailystar.net/news-detail-14572

Fakrul Alam: “Imperial Entanglements and Literature in English.”

https://journals.iium.edu.my/asiatic/index.php/AJELL/article/download/430/405/0

Stripe: “The thrill of South Asian literature in English is its confrontations with colonial
constraints”
https://bdnews24.com/stripe/literature/soz2kmlxvb

Hafiza Nilofar Khan: Bangladeshi Women Writing Fiction in English

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1acocpBSP_B4FvmZBh1KVDh-
pWhb3ws3C_FarFecdEnk/edit?usp=sharing

https://referenceworks.brill.com/display/db/ewio

Recommended Reading

Fakrul Alam: “Transnationalism and South Asian Fiction in English”

https://www.academia.edu/32307713/Transnationalism_and_South_Asian_Fiction_in_English

Priyamwada Gopal: The Indian English Novel: Nation, History and Narration

file:///C:/Users/User/Downloads/The%20Indian%20English%20Novel_%20Nation,%20History,
%20and%20Narration%20%20(%20PDFDrive%20).pdf

Bruce King ed. New National and Post-Colonial Literatures.

Shyam Selvadurai. “Introducing Myself in the Diaspora”. (From: Story Wallah : Short Fiction
 from South Asian Writers.

Ruth Maxey. Introduction: “Framing South Asian Writing in America and Britain, 1970–2010”.

Puja Sarkar. “The thrill of South Asian literature in English is its confrontations with colonial

constraints”
https://bdnews24.com/stripe/literature/soz2kmlxvb

South Asian Novelists in English. An A-to-Z Guide by Jaina C. Sanga, ed. March 2003, 328pp
https://www.abc-clio.com/products/b6232c/

Madhurima Chakrabarty. “South Asian Literature and the World. An Introduction.” 2020.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02759527.2020.1851865

Paul Brian. Modern South Asian Literature in English. Greenwood Press 2003
Tickell, Alex. South-Asian Fiction in English: Contemporary Transformations. 2016
10.13140/RG.2.1.3279.0006

Numerical Scores Letter Grade Grade

Point

90 and above A 4.0

85-89 A- 3.7

80-84 B+ 3.3

75-79 B 3.0
 70-74 B- 2.7

65-69 C+ 2.3

60-64 C 2.0

55-59 C- 1.7

50-54 D+ 1.3

45-49 D 1.0

Below 44 F 0

1. Attendance Policy
The tutor may refuse admission or attendance to any student who arrives more than twenty
minutes late to a class. Absence will be counted if a student leaves thirty minutes or more
early. Please do not request for attendance if you are going to be absent on class. Save your
valid reason for proof in case you have more than 8 absences are auto withdrawn.

2. Academic integrity and plagiarism

Academic integrity is about honesty – put simply it means no cheating. All members of the
university community are responsible for upholding academic integrity, which means staff and
students are expected to behave honestly, fairly and with respect for others at all times.
Plagiarism is a form of cheating which undermines academic integrity. It is still plagiarism even
if you restructure the material or present it in your own style or words without acknowledging
the original author. Plagiarism is prohibited at IUB and is not worth the risk. Consequences of
being found guilty of plagiarism can include:

• An oral or written warning

• Cancellation of your mark for an assessment or a fail grade for the course

• Suspension from the course or the University

3. Course Policy
• Assignments must be done individually, unless otherwise specified. The instructor has the right
to reject any assignment she suspects may not be the student’s own work. Late assignments
WILL be rejected.
• The course outline provided above is tentative.

● Please purchase a spiraled 9”x11” standard size note book and a mini stapler for this
class. You must have these and you’re your primary text (Printed version) in every class.
● Please Upload a written version of your Response (in Google Docs only) before coming
to class. Have a copy for yourself in hand too for Class Discussion.