M. A.

Syllabi in various English Departments in India

A select list of MA syllabi in various English departments has been compiled here from several
universities in India, with the purpose of indicating how the discipline has gradually been opened
up to new areas like Cultural Studies, Film Studies, Translation Studies, Regional Literatures in
Translation, Literary and Cultural Theory and the analysis of concepts like Race, Caste, Gender,
Sexuality, etc.

The highlighted entries exemplify this trend.

1. Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi

The M. A. Course includes the following areas: English Language, Language and Literature,
British Literature: Genres and Forms, British Literature: Periods and Movements, English in
India: Language and Literature, English Literature from other non-British parts of the world,
Translation studies and Comparative Literature, Literary Theory and Criticism, Semiotics,
Literature and other Arts. A detailed description of M. A, M. Phil and Ph. D courses as follows:

LITERATURE: FORMS & AUTHORS

ES 413 E A Literary Form
ES 414 E Reading the Romance
ES417 E Study of an Author II

ENGLISH IN INDIA: LANGUAGE & LITERATURE

ES 436 E English in India
ES 437 E English in India: Socio-Historical & Cultural Setting
ES 438 E Indian English
ES 439 E Structure and Varieties of Indian English
ES 440 E Literature in Indian English
ES 441 E Indian Writings in English
ES 442 E Indian Writings in English and or Translation

ENGLISH LITERATURE FROM OTHER NON-BRITISH PARTS OF THE WORLD

ES 446 E Lit in English Other than British: American
ES 447 E American Literature
ES 448 E Afro-American Writings
ES 449 E Jewish-American Literature
ES 450 E Native-American Literature
ES 451 E Lit in English Other than British: African
ES 452 E African Literature in English
ES 453 E South African Writings in English
ES 454 E Lit in English Other than British: Australian
ES 455 E Australian Literature
ES 456 E Irish Literature
ES 457 E Canadian Fiction: An Introduction

1
TRANSLATION STUDIES AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND POETICS
ES 461 E Translation: Theory and Practice
ES 462 E Comparative Literature
ES 463 E Comparative Poetics
ES 464 E Indian Grammatical Tradition
ES 465 E History & Development of Linguistic Thought in India
ES 466 E Phil of Lang & Lit I: Bharatas Natyashastra
ES 467 E Phil of Lang & Lit II: Astadhyayi of Panini
ES 468 E Phil of Lang & Lit III: Bhartrharis Vakyapadiya
ES 469 E Phil of Lang & Lit IV: Patanjalis Yogasutras
ES 471 E Modern European Drama

LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

ES 474 E Texts in Literary Criticism
ES 475 E Critical Approaches to Literature
ES 476 E Texts of Criticism & Literary Discourse Theories
ES 477 E Readings in Literary Theory &Criticism
ES 478 E Narrative Structures in English
ES 479 E Language and Gender
ES 480 E Colonial Discourse & Postcolonial Studies I
ES 481 E Colonial Discourse & Postcolonial Studies II

SEMIOTICS
ES 486 E Semiotics & Philosophy of Structures I
ES 487 E Semiotics & Philosophy of Structures II
ES 488 E Semiotics & Philosophy of Structures III
ES 489 E Semiotics of Conceptual Structures & Discourse Analysis

LITERATURE & OTHER ARTS

ES 490 E Literature and Allied Arts: Cinema
ES 491 E Film & Literature

LITERATURE IN OTHER ENGLISHES

ES 621 E English Writings in the Third World
ES 622 E Indian English in Its Socio-Cultural & Historical Setting
ES 623 E Teaching of English in India
ES 631 E African Literature in English
ES 632 E Contemporary Australian Literature
ES 636 E Readings in American Literature
ES 637 E African-American Literature

TRANSLATION STUDIES AND COMPARATIVE LITERATURE AND POETICS

ES 641 E Translation of Literary Texts
ES 642 E Comparative Literature
ES 646 E Literature in India
ES 647 E Indian Poetics
ES 648 E Indian Philosophical Tradition
ES 649 E Indian Linguistic Tradition
ES 650 E Vakyapadiya: Philosophy of Language & Linguistics

LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM

ES 656 E Critical Approaches to Literature
ES 657 E Readings in English Literary Criticism
ES 658 E New Criticism
ES 661 E Introduction to Contemporary Literary Theory
ES 662 E Twentieth Century Literary Theory
ES 666 E Novel and Society
ES 667 E Women and Literature
ES 668 E Literature of Colonialism & Decolonization

SEMIOTICS, STRUCTURALISM, ETC.

ES 676 E Semiotics of Creative Process in Language & Literature
ES 677 E Saussure and Semiology
ES 678 E Structuralism and Literary Critique
ES 679 E Post-Structuralism

CULTURE STUDIES
ES 681 E Interpretation of Texts
ES 682 E Conceptual Structures in Language, Literature, Art & Culture
 2. Goa University, Goa

Compulsory Courses:

EGC 101: Linguistics

EGC 102 : English Poetry: from Chaucer onwards
EGC 103 : English Novel
EGC 104 English Drama
EGC 105 :Indian Writing in English
EGC 106 :Novel as a Major Form
EGC 107 :Literary Criticism
EGC 108 :Shakespeare Plays
EGC 109 :American Literature
EGC 110 : World Classics
EGC 111 :Comedy
EGC 112 :Epic
EGC 113 :Tragedy

Optional Courses:

EGO-101 Stylistics
EGO-102 Study of a Major Poet
EGO-103 Study of a Major Novelist
EGO-104 Study of a Major Playwright
EGO-105 Indian Writing in Translation
EGO-106 Readings in Literary Criticism
EGO-107 Creative Writing
EGO-108 Commonwealth Literature
EGO-109 Studies in Colonialism, Modernity and Indigenous Discourse
EGO-110 Latin American Literature
EGO-111 Cultural Studies in the Postcolonial World
EGO-112 Readings in Contemporary Theory
EGO-113 A Reading in Postcolonial Theory and Literature
EGO-114 Cultural Studies : Theory and Practice
EGO-115 Goa : Cultural Persectives
EGO-116 Contemporary Indian English Fiction
EGO-117 Regional Sensibilities in Indian Writing
EGO-118 Cross-Currents in Modern European Drama
EGO-119 Canadian Cultural Studies
EGO-120 Translation Studies: Theory and Praxis
EGO-121 Approaches to Journalism Through Language and Literature
EGO-122 D. H. Lawrence
EGO-123 Multimedia in Cultural Literacies: A Study of Australia
 3. Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal

MA English Core Courses:

SEMESTER I
1. Medieval and Renaissance English Literature
2. English Literature 1830-1900

SEMESTER II
3. English Literature 1630-1760
4. English Literature 1760-1830

SEMESTER III
5. English Literature 1900-2000
6. Literary Theory and Cultural Studies

SEMESTER IV
7. Renaissance Drama
8. Postcolonial English Literature

MA English Optional Courses:

A. MEDIEVAL AND RENAISSANCE ENGLISH LITERATURE

a. Old English Poetry and Prose
b. The Pilgrimage in Medieval Literature
c. Humanism
d. Renaissance Art
e. Renaissance and Political Thought

B. ENGLISH LITERATURE 1630-1760

a. Society and Literature During the English Civil War
b. Milton: Prose and Poetry
c. Enlightenment and the Culture of Reason
d. The Beginning of the Novel
e. Poetry, Politics and Society 1660-1760

C. ENGLISH LITERATURE 1760-1830

a. Literature and the French Revolution
b. Romanticism and the Culture of Dissent
c. Shelley
d. Keats
e. Romantic Geographies

D. ENGLISH LITERATURE 1830-1900

a. Victorian Literature and Empire
 b. New Woman Novels
c. Thomas Hardy
d. Science and Victorian Poetry
e. George Eliot

E. LITERATURE IN THE 20TH CENTURY

a. Graham Greene
b. Modern Theatre
c. Modern European Fiction
d. Modernism and Poetry
e. Postmodern Fictions

F. POSTCOLONIAL AND AMERICAN LITERATURE

a. Indian Writing in English
b. American Literature in the Nineteenth Century
c. Ethnic-American Writing
d. African Writing in English
e. Diaspora Studies

G. LITERARY THEORY AND CULTURAL STUDIES

a. Textual Criticism
b. Many Feminisms
c. Foucault
d. Literature and Psychoanalysis
e. Romantic Critical Thought
f. Realism
g. Structure Sign and Play
h. Image and Text

H. SPECIAL AREAS
a. History of the Book
b. Literature and Visual Arts
c. Popular Literature
d. Queer Studies
e. Writing Leisure
f. Literature and Medicine
g. Performative Play: Literature and Culture of Sport
h. The Theban Plays of Sophocles
i. Childrens Literature
j. Death in Western Civilization
 4. University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh

MA SEMESTER I

HE401 The English Language

HE402 Introduction to Literature
HE403 Shakespeare and 17th Century British Literature and Thought
HE404 Indian Writing in English

MA SEMESTER II

HE451 18th Century British Literature & Thought

HE452 Romantic Literature & Thought
HE453 British Literature & Thought of the Victorian Age
HE454 American Literature
HE454 Modern British Literature & Thought

MA SEMESTER III

HE501 Literary Criticism and Theory

HE502 American Literature and Thought
HE521 Modernities in Indian Literature
HE522 Other Romanticisms: The Politics of the Lake School Poets
HE523 Staging the Feminine Consciousness: American Women Playwrights during
the 80s.
HE524 South Asian Diasporic Womens Writing discrepancy

MA SEMESTER IV

HE551 New Literature in English

HE571 Gay Indian Literature
HE572 Tell Sad Stories: Shakespeares Tragedies
HE573 Introduction to Gender Studies
HE574 Indian Cities in Cultural Imagination
HE575 Reading Film, Watching Texts: Indian English Literature & Film
HE576 Defining and Re-Defining Indian Dalit Literature
 5. University of Calicut, Calicut, Kerala

MA SEMESTER I (TWO CORE PAPERS AND TWO OPTIONAL PAPERS)

Core Papers

British Literature From the Age of Chaucer to the Eighteenth Century

British Literature: The Nineteenth Century

Optional Papers

Shakespeare
British and Continental Drama
World Drama
Advanced Communication
Writing for the Media

SEMESTER II (TWO CORE PAPERS AND TWO OPTIONAL PAPERS)

Core Papers

Twentieth Century Literature up to World War II

Criticism and Theory

Optional Papers

American Literature
European Poetry in Translation
Queer Studies
European Fiction in Translation
Canadian Literature
American Poetry - Post 1940

SEMESTER III (TWO CORE PAPERS AND TWO OPTIONAL PAPERS)

Core Papers

Twentieth Century British Literature: Post 1940

English Language: History and Structure

Optionals

Advanced Literary Theory

Post structuralism and Postmodernism
Postcolonial Fiction and Drama
Film Studies
Malayalam Literature in Translation
Regional Indian Literature in Translation
Womens Writing

SEMESTER IV (TWO CORE PAPERS AND THREE OPTIONAL PAPERS)

Core papers

Indian English Literature

Dissertation

Optionals

Postcolonial Poetry
Indian English Fiction
Introduction to Childrens Literature
Indian Aesthetics
Linguistics
Introduction to Cultural Studies
Translation Theory and Practice
Teaching of English
American Ethnic Writing
Dalit Studies
 6. Christ University, Bangalore, Karnataka

SEMESTER I

MEL131 British Literature: Genres & Ideas

MEL 132 Research Methods and Writing
MEL133 Literary Criticism and Theory
MEL 134 Linguistics
MEL 135 Professional Communication

SEMESTER II

MEL 231 Gender Studies

MEL232 Contemporary Critical Theory
MEL 233 Elective
(a) 20th Century American Literature
(b) Creative Writing
MEL234 English Language Teaching
MEL 235 Mass Communication

SEMESTER III

MEL 331 Indian Literatures (In Translation)

MEL 332 World Literatures
MEL 333 Critical Aesthetics
MEL334 Postcolonial National Notes
MEL 335 Theatre Studies
MEL336 Internship

SEMESTER IV

MEL 431 Dissertation

MEL 432 Contemporary Indian Writing (In English)
MEL 433 Cultural Debates
MEL 434 Film Studies
MEL 435 Elective
(a) Translation Studies
(b) Script Writing
(c) Popular Culture
(d) Culture and Discipline
 7. University of Delhi, New Delhi

SEMESTER I

English Poetry from Chaucer to Milton

Eighteenth Century English Literature
Literary Criticism 1
Optional Paper (One of the following):
(i) Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Drama
(ii) European Comedy

SEMESTER II

Shakespeare
Language and Linguistics
Optional Paper (One of the following):
(i) Literature and Gender
(ii) New Literatures in English
(iii) Romantic Poetry
A course in another discipline.

SEMESTER III

Nineteenth Century Novel

Twentieth Century Poetry and Drama
Indian Literature 1
Optional Paper (One of the following):
(i) American Literature
(ii) Literature and the Visual Arts in Europe

SEMESTER IV

Twentieth Century Novel

Literary Criticism 2
Optional Paper (One o the following):
(i) Ancient Greek and Latin Literature
(ii) Indian Literature 2
(iii) The Novel in India
A course in another discipline.
 8. University of Pune, Pune, Maharashtra

Core Papers:

M.A. ENGLISH PART-I

Paper-I: English Literature from 1550 to 1832.

Paper-II: English Literature from 1832 to 1980.
Paper-III : English Language Today.
Paper-IV: Contemporary Critical Theory.

M.A. ENGLISH PART-II

Paper-V: English Languages and Literature Teaching.

Paper-VI: Indian Writing in English.

Optional Papers (One of the following groups to be offered)

Group-A :
Paper-VII: Form of Literature
Paper-VIII: Special Author

Group-B :
Paper-VII: Linguistics and Stylists
Paper-VIII: Semantics and Pragmatics

Group-C :
Paper-VII: Afro-Asian Literature
Paper-VIII: Popular Fiction

Group-D :
Paper-VII: Modern American Literature
Paper VIII: Canadian, Australian, New Zealand Literatures in English

Group-E :
Paper-VII: World Classics in English Translation
Paper-VIII: Indian Literature in English Translation
 9. Maharaha Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, Gujarat

MA SEMESTER I

Core 1- English Poetry I

Core 2- Fiction I
Core 3- Modern Literary Theory and Criticism I
Core 4- Indian Literature in English
Core 5- Introduction to Comparative Literary Studies
IDE 1 - Literature and Gender
Project 1

MA SEMESTER II

Core 6- English Poetry II

Core 7- Fiction II
Core 8- Varieties of Non-Fictional Prose
Core 9- A. American Literature
B. Canadian Literature
Core 10- A. European Literature
B. Latin American Literature
IDE 2 - Literature and Race
Project 2

MA SEMESTER III

Core 11- Drama I

Core 12- English Studies in India I
Core 13- Modern Literary Theory and Criticism II
Core 14- Special Author: Shakespeare
Core 15- Introduction to Translation Studies
IDE 3 - Literature and Caste
Project 3

MA SEMESTER IV

Core 16- Drama II

Core 17- English Studies in India II
Core 18- English Language Teaching
Core 19-A. Indian Literature in Translation
B. Diaspora Writings of the Indian Subcontinent
Core 20-A. Practical Criticism
B. Introduction to Practical Translation
IDE 4 - Literature and Film
Project 4
10. Central University of Gujarat, Gandhinagar, Gujarat

SEMESTER I

Core papers:
101 From the Renaissance to the Restoration
102 From the Restoration to the Romantics

Electives:
1A Tragic Drama
1B Appreciation of Theatre
1C Indian Literature in English Translation

SEMESTER II

Core papers:
201 Literature of the Romantic Period
202 Literature of the Victorian Period

Electives:
2A The Novel as a Form
2B Narrative Theory
2C Indian Writing in English

SEMESTER III

Core papers:
301 Modernism and Beyond
302 Literary Criticism and Theory 1

Electives:
3A Modern European Literature
3B American Literature
3C Postcolonial Literature

SEMESTER IV

Core papers:
401 Trends in Contemporary Literature
402 Literary Criticism and Theory II

Electives:
4A Introduction to Translation Studies
4B Introduction to Culture Studies
4C Introduction to Structure of Language