Harry Potter, Bob Marley add spice to Lit studies

Chennai: Dialogues from Harry Potter and James Bond and Bob Marley lyrics which have been introduced in the evening English literature B.A course two years ago at Madras Christian College are a big hit among students.

These have been introduced to help students read texts and enjoy them, as also to strike a balance between canonical literature and popular culture, say faculty members. Daniel David, head of the English department (evening course), who introduced the evening course two years ago said that Harry Potter is the interpretation of the movie version. “Students have to analyze it.

Students have to analyze how James Bond books represented the cold war.

We debate the sociological background of Bob Dylan lyrics. In the
case of Bob Marley the Rastafarian movement comes in,” he said. He added that the other elements of myth and folk come in. He added that
the objective of this course is that students should be able to take up a postgraduation course in any university in the world. “Madras University is keeping a watch on this course to see how successful this will be,” he said.
Ishanee Sarmah, a second year student of BA English, (evening stream) was ecstatic when asked about this course. “I was looking for something different and when I came across this course I found it amazing. The course is very practical and creative,” she said.

Professor S. Armstrong, head of the English department in Madras University, said nowadays teaching of literature has become the focus of cultural studies. It has turned transdisciplinary - cutting across genres. “MCC is keen on experimenting and I support it. We also have some popular culture included in our syllabus,” he said.