(Semester I to start from July 2010, Semester III from July 2011)
Semester I
EN 501 Literary Theory and Criticism I
The course will introduce basic issues in western literary theory and criticism, and will be a foundational course. The issues discussed will be:
The Origins of Art/ Ritual and Art
Mimesis/ Imitation/ Representation (Plato and Aristotle)
Rhetoric and Art
Religion and Art (Medieval Rhetoric)
Renaissance in the Arts and the Recovery of Classical Values
Romanticism
The course will expect a wide range of reading and will fundamentally depend on discussion rather than lectures. Students are expected to make presentations during the course apart from the regular internal tests and the semester-end examination. Some of the fundamental texts, e.g. Plato’s and Aristotle’s, will be discussed in detail.
EN 502 Basic Issues in Linguistics
The aim of this course is to acquaint the learners with basic concepts in linguistics. Linguistics is considered as a science and different systems constituting language are discussed. Students are acquainted with different branches of linguistics. Various applications of linguistics are highlighted. The course familiarizes students with the transformational-generative approach. The course enables students to tackle phenomena like ambiguity, obscurity and creativity of language.
EN 503 English Drama
The course will introduce basic issues in the study of drama, not merely as texts to be read, but also in terms of performance and stagecraft. The aim is to familiarize students with various kinds of theatre and forms, from Renaissance tragedy and comedy, to ‘absurd’ theatre. The course is also meant to enable students construct a fuller picture of drama in general, on the basis of a variety of examples. The following plays will be discussed:
Chrsitopher Marlowe (Dr Faustus)
Thomas Kyd (The Spanish Tragedy)
Sheridan/ Restoration Drama
Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest
Beckett/ Pinter /Stoppard
Optional Course
EN 511
511 A Shakespeare Studies
The course will introduce students to basic features of Shakespeare Studies, both interpretive and textual. Attention will also be drawn to the historical changes in Shakespeare Studies. The main focus will be on developments upto early 20th century Shakespeare studies. The course will also focus on background and Shakespeare crticism in its textual and interpretive aspects.
511 B Creative Writing I
This is a creative writing course in which students will be taught to write poetry. While the principles of what makes a good poem, such as metaphor, imagery, symbolism, prosody, rhyme, meter etc., as well as styles such a free verse and formal verse will be studied, the emphasis will be on the actual writing of poetry. Students will be encouraged to keep a journal that will provide the raw material for their poems. The course will function on the assumption that while poets are born, not made; talent, where it exists, can and must be developed and cultivated.
511 C American Literature I
The course will study American writing/s from its beginning till the 19th century. Sample texts of autobiographies, biographies, fiction, drama, poetry and other narratives will be prescribed for an in-depth discussion.
511 D English Fiction
The course will equip students with a broad knowledge of the genre of fiction written in English, including British fiction. It will study various trends in the area. Some texts will be chosen for detailed study and analysis.
Semester II
EN 601 Literary Theory and Criticism II
The course will focus on developments from the Romantics onward, upto mid-
20th century. The following will be emphasised:
Romantic Literary Theories (Wordsworth and Coleridge)
Victorian Concerns (Arnold, ‘The Function of Criticism’)
New Criticism (Eliot, ‘Tradition and the Individual Talent’)
Wimsatt and Beardsley (‘The Intentional Fallacy’)
Archetypal Criticism (Frye, ‘Archetypal Criticism’)
EN 602 The Grammars of English
The aim of this course is to enable students to evaluate critically different grammars of English and to decide which grammars are more acceptable. The course discusses issues like what grammar is and how grammars are written. The course deals with various units of grammar—morpheme, word, phrase, clause and sentence and discourse—using an eclectic approach. It also covers concepts like grammaticality, acceptability, appropriateness and ambiguity. There is an emphasis on practical work involving independent grammatical analysis.
EN 603 English Poetry
The course will discuss various genres of poetry, drawing on examples from English and European poetry. The following will be discussed:
Forms: Epic, Lyric, Sonnet, Sestina, Villanelle etc.
Stanza Patterns and Rhyme Schemes
Meters and Figures of Speech
All to be illustrated from the history of English Poetry
Optional Course: EN 611
611 A Trends in English Poetry: Renaissance to Romantics
The course will focus on historical changes in English poetry from the Renaissance. It is meant to enable students to take a step back from individual poems and poets in order to study larger poetic phenomena, allowing them to arrive at their own evaluations of the changes in themes, techniques, forms etc.
611 B Creative Writing II
In this course students will be taught to write fiction. While aspects of good fiction, such as characterization, narrative, point of view and the need to tell a story will be studied, the emphasis will be on the actual writing of short fiction. Students will be encouraged to keep a journal that will provide the raw material for their stories. The course will function on the assumption that while poets are born, not made; talent, where it exists, can and must be developed and cultivated.
611 C American Literature II
This course would be a kind of continuation of EN 511 C. It will study literature produced by American writers in the 20th century in various genres. Some texts will be selected as illustrative, and for detailed interpretation.
611 D Teaching of English Language in India
The aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic concepts in language teaching. This course views language as a skill subject and it will train prospective
teachers in imparting the skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing; along with the reference skills to undergraduate students. Innovations in syllabus design, teaching methodology and evaluation will be studied. An important component of the course will be demonstration lessons by the teachers and practice teaching sessions by students.
Semester III
EN 701 South Asian/ Indian Writing in English
Optional Courses
EN 711
EN 711 A Trends in English Poetry: Victorians to Contemporary
The course will introduce 20th century poetry, with Victorial poetry serving as the background. Emphasis will be given to Modernist poetry, Movement Poets, and later, contemporary poetry including performance poetry. It is meant to enable students to view 20th century poetry in its variety, without losing attention on the major poets.
EN 711 B Technical Writing
The course aims at introducing basic writing skills to students: clarity of communication, concise presentation of ideas, illustrating ideas etc. It will also introduce various styles of formal writing to enable students to prepare for careers other than teaching English. Some basic elements of technical writing and writing for the web will be introduced.
EN 711 C Alternative Literatures I
Indian dalits are one of the exploited, subjugated and suppressed social groups. Their writing reflects their plight in the Indian social system. Hence for study in this course, samples of texts in English, from various genres will be selected. Dalit writing from various states in India will be selected.
EN 711 D Linguistics and Stylistics I
The course introduces students to a linguistic and stylistic approach to the study of literature. It discusses the need for objective study of the language of literature. It explores the relationship between literary language and ordinary language in relation to phonology, syntax, semantics, lexis and graphology. The course also concentrates on the strengths and limitations of stylistics.
EN 712
EN 712 A Contemporary Literary Theory
The course aims at familiarizing students with contemporary issues in literary theory and criticism, and will discuss in detail developments in literary theory from 1950
onwards. Some basic philosophical issues will be discussed to enable students to engage with more complex issues. The course will focus on structuralism and post-structuralism, taking into account their European intellectual background.
EN 712 B Culture Studies I
The course will introduce the areas of Culture Studies and its importance in the context of literary studies. It will discuss the rise of the discipline of Culture Studies, and will discuss some important examples of work done in the discipline. The framework of the discipline will be laid out, and students will be encouraged to work with ideas introduced in the course.
EN 712 C Feminism and Literature I
The course aims at a historical-feminist approach to the study of literature and will focus on pre-modern and early modern literature. The course does not necessarily deal with literature written by women, though their writing will be considered. Elementary concepts in feminism and gender studies will be introduced. The course distinguishes between women’s writing, women’s liberation and feminism writing and feminism. The socio-economic aspects of gender will be introduced.
EN 712 D Indian English
This course will make students aware of the phenomenon of World Englishes and the concept of International English. It will view Indian English as a part of World Englishes. It will encourage students to discover aspects of various sub-systems of Indian English. They will be encouraged to pay attention to the relationship between Indian English as a variety of English, and Indian Writing in English.
EN 713
EN 713 A Twentieth Century Fantasy Literature
The course is meant to introduce the narrative genre of fantasy. It will discuss some of the important examples of fantasy literature. It will emphasize the literary aspects of creating ‘other worlds’, and will also discuss the relation between ‘realism’ and ‘fantasy’. It will also introduce students to psychoanalytical approaches to fantasy literature.
EN 713 B Semantics and Pragmatics
The course tries to deal with linguistic and non-linguistic meaning. It will discuss the various meanings of the term ‘meaning’, and the concept of semantic entailments. It explores various meaning relationship. The course analyzes the relationship between semantics and pragmatics and some the latest developments in pragmatics.
EN 713 C Issues in Post-Colonial Theory
The course will introduce students to post-colonial theory, beginning with Edward Said, and ending with contemporary debates in post-colonial theory. It will also introduce students to post-colonial approaches to Modern Indian literature in modern Indian langauges.
EN 713 D Narrative Theory
The course will enable students to approach prose narratives from a theoretical point of view, and it will mainly focus on 20th century narrative theory, beginning from Henry James upto Genette.
Semester IV
EN 801 Trends in English Fiction
The course will introduce basic trends in English fiction, taking into account the variety of fictional works in English. It will discuss basic trends and the changes in them in terms of themes, techniques, and the production, circulation and consumption of fiction.
Optional Courses
EN 811
EN 811 A Film Studies
The course will introduce basic concepts in films studies, and will subsequently
focus on the more theoretical aspects of films studies. The basic approaches tha will be discussed are psychoanalytical and sociological, there will also be some discussion of ‘ideology and popular cinema’ from a general Marxist point of view. The critics to be studied include Kracauer, Chanan, Mulvey, and Benjamin.
EN 811 B Alternative Literatures II
While writers of gay and lesbian sexual orientation from Britain, America and Europe are studied as part of the canon; the way their vision is influenced by their different sexual orientation is rarely addressed. With such issues coming to the forefront of political debate all over the world, it is time to examine how these writers, even when they belong to the mainstream, actual de-center and disrupt, irrespective of whether their work is overtly, or only covertly gay. The publication of two anthologies by Penguin India in the late 90s indicates that there is a body of gay and lesbian writing from within India as well. This writing will be studied both as literature, and as socially resistant. Exploring the issue of the personal as political, connections will be sought to be made with other kinds of resistant writing, such as women’s literature and Dalit literature.
EN 811 C Linguistics and Stylistics II
The course explores specific features of the three major genres—poetry, drama and fiction—in relation to recent developments in stylistics. The stylistics of poetry concentrates on various formal features of poetry, including metre and prosody, figures of speech and ambiguity and obscurity. The stylistics of drama focuses on the dialogic mode, the use of deixis, the speech act theory, the co-operation principles and the politeness principles, and the differences between dramatic dialogue and everyday conversation. The stylistics of fiction pays particular attention to point of view, narrative strategies and narrative reports of speech acts.
EN 812
EN 812 Modern European Literature in English Translation
The course will focus on significant developments in modern European literature,
taking into account the cultural background to individual literary works. Literary works from the German, French, Italian and Spanish cultures will be discussed. The course is meant to familiarize students with trends, rather than texts from European literature.
EN 812 B Culture Studies II
The course will focus on contemporary debates in and about Culture Studies, and
will discuss select examples of work done between 1990-2010. It will also take into account work done in the area on Indian culture.
EN 812 C Feminism and Literature II
The course will focus on contemporary issues in feminism, and their impact on literature and literary interpretation and theory. Representative texts will be discussed in detail, and various theoretical and analytical tools will be described. The course will introduce basic concepts like sex and gender, gender performance, and their relationship with literature.
EN 812 D Teaching of English Literature in India
This course aims at producing effective teachers of literature. It will explore the needs and motivation for the study of literature in India. It will emphasize the need for a synthesis of thematic and linguistic approaches to the teaching of literature. It will enhance the prospective teacher’s understanding and ability to teach the three major genres—poetry, drama and fiction. Students will be encouraged to have hands-on experience of teaching literature to undergraduate students.
812 E Bollywood Calling: Issues in Popular Indian Cinema
The course is based on the assumption that Bollwood films have always been the pulse of India. Starting with the hero-heroine-villian triad of the formula film, which bears a mythic resemblance to Ram, Sita and Ravana of Valmiki's epic, the course entails the viewing of films from the 60s onward to understand socio-cultural issues such as the formula film, the role of songs in Hindi films, the parallel cinema movement, queer Bollywood, films based on Indian English novels such as The Guide; Train to Pakistan; In Custody; English August, An Indian Story; The Namesake; Such a Long journey; the recent Three Idiots; and so on. With Film Studies having come into its own as an academic discipline in universities worldwide, the course will throw much light on the dialectics of a medium that is frequently believed to have destroyed rival mediums such as literature and theatre.
EN 813
EN 813 A Basic Concepts in Western Aesthetics
The course is meant to introduce students to basic concepts in post-Renaissance Aesthetics. The course will mainly discuss European texts, beginning with selections from Immanuel Kant, and through a historical account of various developments, will stop with Walter Benjamin.
EN 813 B Translation Studies
The course is meant to familiarize students with issues in translation theory and practice. The course will take samples from 19th and 20th century translations from Marathi and Hindi into English, and vice versa. The course will focus on the social and political implications of translations, and will take into account non-literary translations. The implications of western theories of translation for colonial and post-colonial societies will be discussed.
EN 813 C Marxism and Literature
The course will familiarize students with basic tenets of Marxism, and Marxist criticism and cultural theory. Prominent theorists, critics and interpreters from the 20th century, like Louis Althusser, Terry Eagleton, Georg Lukacs, Raymond Williams, Fredric Jameson, John Frow, Stuart Hall will be studied. This course will also study the general tenets of Marxist criticism, and will make an attempt to see how Marxist criticism has understood literary texts of all genres.
EN 813 D History of the Book
Most of us use books, but very few people think about what a book is and how it got that way. The discipline that looks at books as made objects, is called history of the book. It investigates and discusses the human agency behind the making and selling of literary texts. It includes everything from the study of manufacturing processes, through editing conventions and practices, right up to selling, reviewing and reception and what happens to books in the hands of readers. Conventional literary criticism has tended till recently to treat everything on the printed page as the unproblematized speech of the authorial voice, ignoring the roles of publishers, editors and readers in the formation of a text. The present course provides an overview of the history of the printed book since the coming of movable type. The main emphasis is on the European, specifically English book, with as much treatment as possible of ‘diasporic’ printing traditions mediated through colonial cultural encounters. The course would attempt to put equal emphasis on the actual technologies used over time, the organization of trade in various places and periods, and the wider social and political context in which books are made, sold and read.
DR. BAJRANG KORDE
PROFESSOR & HEAD
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
UNIVERSITY OF PUNE
PUNE - 411007
[INDIA]
