Seminar: 3.02.131 S Representations of Caste in Contemporary Indian Literature - Details

Seminar: 3.02.131 S Representations of Caste in Contemporary Indian Literature - Details

General information

Course name Seminar: 3.02.131 S Representations of Caste in Contemporary Indian Literature
Subtitle
Course number 3.02.131
Semester SoSe2025
Current number of participants 12
expected number of participants 20
Home institute Institute of English and American Studies
Courses type Seminar in category Teaching
First date Monday, 07.04.25, 12:00 - 14:00 o'clock A06 0-009
Type/Form
Lehrsprache englisch
ECTS points 6

Rooms and times

A06 0-009

  • Monday, 12:00 - 14:00, Weekly (from 07.04.25)

Module assignments

Comment/Description

The caste system functions as a pervasive force within rural and urban spaces in India. This seminar will familiarise students with the various depictions of caste that play a pivotal role in contemporary Indian literature. This class will read three texts to grasp how caste functions within mundane and extraordinary circumstances. In Manu Joseph’s Serious Men, the students will be introduced to caste-based hierarchies and discrimination in modern urban contexts, while Perumal Murugan’s Pyre portrays the violent repression of inter-caste relationships in a rural village. Furthermore, students will critically engage with Dalit feminist traditions through a close reading of Bama’s seminal text, Karruku. By contextualizing these texts through the works of Ambedkar, Fanon, Spivak, and contemporary Indian feminist scholars such as Shailja Paik, Sharmila Rege, and Susie Tharu, this seminar seeks to foreground questions of caste-based exploitation, erasure of non-brahmin identities, subalternity, othering, and counter-resistance.

Admission settings

The course is part of admission "Anmeldung gesperrt (global)".
Erzeugt durch den Stud.IP-Support
The following rules apply for the admission:
  • Admission locked.