This research cluster comprises enquiries and explorations into the pedagogy and praxis of English literary studies in India. The thrust area is literary pedagogy - textual canons, critical traditions, and theoretical frameworks. The motivation for this research stems from the crisis of not just English studies but the humanities in general due to the dominance of STEM education. In the Indian context, this crisis has a different trajectory as English has a strong presence in tertiary education (at least in terms of enrolment), due mainly to the market demand for English. Literary studies, however, is plagued by issues of cultural relevance and relatability: debates on why it is taught, what is taught, and how it is to be taught are increasingly challenging in today’s technologized learning environment.

Research foci of the cluster

     1. Alternative Critical Discourses:

• to examine and re-orient conceptualizations of ‘literature’ and ‘criticism’ which enframe the discipline of English literary studies in India
• to explore *inter-semiotic Indian literary/ critical traditions, from across ages and regions, for adaptation into English literary studies. (*In the Indian tradition, literary texts often find expression in other art forms such as music, plastic arts and performing traditions.) 

     2. Canonical Reconfiguration:

 Identifying (for translation into English where necessary) literary texts from the Indian languages to supplement (from a  comparative  perspective) the Anglo-American canon and provide culturally non-alienating pathways to the study and appreciation of literature.

     3. Digital Passages:

Developing multi-modal approaches (appropriate for inter-semiotic Indian traditions) to the study of literature, thereby reducing text and information-heavy pedagogies.

The current, pilot project under this cluster explores English literary studies in open/distance learning (ODL), where the problematics of literary pedagogy are often entrenched. However, the greater heterogeneity of learners in ODL and its ineluctable digital transformation offer rich scope for the explorations envisaged under the cluster.