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Contemporary Literature

By Prof. Aysha Viswamohan   |   IIT Madras
Learners enrolled: 567   |  Exam registration: 16
ABOUT THE COURSE:
The 40 -hours course covers a range of topics and texts from the domain of Contemporary Literature. Participants will gain an insight into the complexities of select post-WWII literary texts, particularly in their cultural, historical and social contexts . They will become familiar with seminal writers from Albert Camus to Maya Angelou; Amy Tan to Maya Angelou; and Harold Pinter to Girish Karnad. The course would also help learners analyse advanced literary texts through the lenses of race, postcolonialism and postmodernism.

INTENDED AUDIENCE: Students and researchers in the area of Literature

PREREQUISITES: Interest in Literature

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Universities and colleges/ Departments of HSS
Summary
Course Status : Upcoming
Course Type : Elective
Language for course content : English
Duration : 12 weeks
Category :
  • Humanities and Social Sciences
  • English Studies
Credit Points : 2
Level : Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date : 20 Jan 2025
End Date : 11 Apr 2025
Enrollment Ends : 27 Jan 2025
Exam Registration Ends : 14 Feb 2025
Exam Date : 04 May 2025 IST

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.


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Course layout

Week 1: 
  1.  Introduction to Drama
  2. Harold Pinter
  3. Harold Pinter - The Dumb Waiter
  4. Harold Pinter - The Dumb Waiter (continued

Week 2: 

        5.John Guare - Six Degrees of Separation
        6.John Guare - Six Degrees of Separation (Part II)
        7.John Guare - Six Degrees of Separation (PartIII)

Week 3: 

        8.John Guare - Six Degrees of Separation (Part IV)
        9.John Guare - Six Degrees of Separation (Part V)
        10.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth

Week 4: 

        11.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (Part II)
        12.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (Part III)
        13.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth(Part IV)

Week 5: 

        14.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (Part V)
        15.Tom Stoppard - Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth (Part VI)
        16.Arthur Miller - Clara

Week 6: 

        17.Arthur Miller – Clara (Part II)
        18.Arthur Miller – Clara (Part III)
        19.Albert Camus - The Fall
        20.Albert Camus - The Fall (Part II)

Week 7: 

        21.Albert Camus - The Fall (Part III)
        22.Girish Karnad – Nagamandala
        23.Girish Karnad – Nagamandala (PartII)

Week 8: 

        24.Girish Karnad – Nagamandala (Part III)
        25.Salman Rushdie’s The Firebird
        26.Hanif Kureishi’s A Meeting, at Last

Week 9: 

        27.Introduction to Postmodernism
        28.Kazuo Ishiguro -Remains of the Day
        29.Kazuo Ishiguro -Remains of the Day (Part II)

Week 10: 

        30.Kazuo Ishiguro -Remains of the Day (Part III)
        31.Kazuo Ishiguro -Remains of the Day (Part IV)
        32.Michael Ondaatje -The English Patient 

Week 11: 

        33.Michael Ondaatje -The English Patient (Part II)
        34.Michael Ondaatje -The English Patient (Part III)
        35.Asian-American Writing
        36.Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club

Week 12: 

        37.Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club (Part II)
        38.Amy Tan's The Joy Luck Club (Part III)
        39.Introduction to Poetry
        40.Poetry – Maya Angelou

Books and references

  • The Cambridge Companion to World Literature. Edited by Ben Etherington, University of Western Sydney, Jarad Zimbler, University of Birmingham, 2018.
  • Modernism. Peter Childs. NY: Routledge, 2017.
  • The Oxford Companion to World Literature.Edited by Dinah Birch. OUP, 2009.
  • Modernism: An Anthology. Edited by Lawrence Rainey. MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2005.

Instructor bio

Prof. Aysha Viswamohan

IIT Madras
Prof. Aysha Viswamohan is professor of film studies, drama and popular culture in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, IIT Madras. Among her several books are Behind the Scenes: Contemporary Bollywood Directors(ed.) Sage: New Delhi, 2017, Post-liberalization Indian Novels in English: Global Reception & Politics of Award London: ANTHEM, 2013.  Her books on communication include English for Technical Communication, and English for Nurses and English for the Hotel Industry

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.
The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).
Date and Time of Exams: May 04, 2025 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.
Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.
The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.
Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT Madras .It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team


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