Published in The Hindu Education Plus
When I began teaching literature, I assumed my students would love the texts I held dear.
However, my first term quickly disproved me of that notion. I discovered that many students
believed reading the actual texts was unnecessary — as long as they could access story
outlines and prepare a few essay answers using notes from senior students or guidebooks.
This realisation was disheartening.
I soon learned that I was not alone in this concern. Many colleagues had similar experiences.
Over time, I began to reflect: Was the issue rooted in students’ inability to read, or was it a
general lack of interest? Gradually, I understood that the problem was not a lack of reading
skills but rather an inertia toward reading itself. This led me to question how literature is
taught, and more importantly, how we might rekindle genuine interest among students.
Categorisation
An often-overlooked factor in this discussion is the content and approach used in the
classroom. English departments in colleges and universities typically organise their syllabi
into categories like Romantic poetry, 19th century fiction, or Shakespeare and offer
specialised courses such as Literary Criticism that cover critics from Dryden to Eliot and
theorists like I. A. Richards and Derrida. However, these are often treated as discrete, isolated
units rather than interconnected frameworks to understand literature as a totality.
Yet literature is a dynamic tapestry of voices, histories, and ideas. When students complete a
literature course, they are rarely concerned with how many children Mrs. Bennet had in Pride
and Prejudice or how William Empson conceptualised ambiguity. These details may seem
trivial and, as a result, students may disengage from the larger experience of reading and
thinking about literature. The solution lies in re-imagining the way we teach literature:
moving from rote learning to critical engagement.
One effective strategy is to encourage students to explore meaning through inquiry. For
instance, instead of summarising the plot of Wuthering Heights, invite students to investigate
the idea of “home” in the novel. When studying Bama, ask students to reflect on how
personal struggle shape her memoir. How is valour part of a poem such as
Tennyson’s Ulysses or Tithonus? These prompt deeper analysis and personal engagement.
Equally essential is grounding literature in its geographical, historical, and social contexts.
Students should research the era in which a work was written, examine the prevailing social
conditions, and discuss its relevance in today’s world. Literature should not be studied in
isolation; it must be connected to the lived reality.
Literary theory
Incorporating literary theory into this process is vital. Rather than treating theory as a
separate academic requirement, we must integrate it into the act of reading itself. Encourage
students to ask how meaning is produced, how interpretations evolve, and how themes are
constructed and deconstructed. This ensures that theory becomes a tool for engagement, not
just abstraction.
Students should also be encouraged to write reflectively about their personal responses to
texts. Whether analysing a poem or a novel, articulating their thoughts fosters a deeper, more
meaningful connection with literature. Without this reflective practice, literature can appear
as nothing more than a disconnected compilation of texts.
Moreover, cultural, and philosophical dimensions should be woven into literary studies.
Students must be shown how texts help us understand humanity and that this is the broader
quest they carry into the world. In our digital age, we can enhance engagement by inviting
students to create short films or perform plays based on the texts they study. They can use AI
tools to visualise the setting of a play, trace intertextual connections, or retell classic stories in
contemporary contexts.
Finally, creating space for classroom debates and discussions is essential, as it fosters
independent thinking and helps students see literature as a living dialogue, not a closed book.
By adopting these strategies, we can transform the teaching of literature into a dynamic,
engaging experience that encourages students to read not just for exams, but for life.
The writer is a former Professor of English, Pondicherry University