Generally known as English in Sri Lanka and elsewhere, the discipline English Literature focuses mainly on the study of literatures written in English from various parts of the world. However, the field of English studies in both the global north and the postcolonial world is be coming increasingly diverse and inter-disciplinary; it now embraces and intersects with areas like Language Studies, Comparative Literature, Cultural Studies and Translation Studies.
English Literature was introduced as a subject at the Jaffna Campus of the University of Sri Lanka in 1975. Ms. Shanthini Santhanam, Prof. Chelva Kanaganayakam, Dr. Nihal Fernando were among the pioneering academics.
The curriculum taught in the early decades focused almost exclusively on literary studies. Later on, a few components in language studies were added to the curriculum. A special degree program in English Literature was inaugurated in 2001. The English Literature curriculum taught by the Department of Linguistics and English at the University of Jaffna at present includes a wide array of courses in literary studies, language studies and courses that are interdisciplinary in nature where literary studies and language studies intersect with cultural studies and critical theory.
In terms of content, the new curriculum focuses not just on the British canon but also American literatures and literatures from formerly colonized locations such as South Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. The Department also teaches courses in world literatures and critical theory. Some of the Honours degree courses taught in the final year are organized around themes so as to give students an understanding of the ways in which literature engages with the questions of nationalism, globalization, gender and sexuality, caste and labor.
The curriculum for the Honours degree program in English Literature includes several courses in Linguistics and Language Studies as well and cross-lists some of the courses offered by the Linguistics section of the Department of Linguistics
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