Session

Fall 2025

 Term

Y

Format

SEMR

Instructor

Calendar Description / Prerequisite / Co-Requisite

The objective of this course is to acquire an understanding of the diverse manifestations of South Asian culture in history and the present day mainly through literature. We explore how culture in South Asia and the South Asian diaspora is imagined, how cultural traditions develop and how they are significant in the modern day. We also investigate how culture is transmitted, reified, contested, and politicized in South Asia and South Asian diasporas. Our primary sources in the Fall Term are mainly drawn from literary genres (fiction, poetry, drama, autobiography) composed in various South Asian regional languages and available in adequate English translation. Our primary sources in the Winter Term are mainly drawn from literary genres (fiction, poetry, autobiography) authored originally in English by South Asian diaspora writers as well as artwork, music and film. Our analyses of primary sources will be accompanied by relevant secondary sources, i.e. scholarly essays covering theories of gender, diaspora, nationalism, feminism, and the politics of representation.All course materials are either in the English original or available in English translation. Knowledge of Hindi and/or Urdu is not required.

Course Start Up

Course Websites hosted on York's "eClass" are accessible to students during the first week of the term. It takes two business days from the time of your enrolment to access your course website. Course materials begin to be released on the course website during the first week. To log in to your eClass course visit the York U eClass Portal and login with your Student Passport York Account. If you are creating and participating in Zoom meetings you may also go directly to the York U Zoom Portal.

For further course Start Up details, review the Getting Started webpage.

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