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MA in Literary Art Creative Writing

Programme Description

Admissions 2017

The Programme has pioneered the pedagogy of creative writing in India with its unique insistence on inculcating in the student both the practice and the theory of literary writing. It imagines the writer as inhabiting a range of historical, social and existential horizons, each of which have their bearing on the nature and depth of individual literary output. Rather than simply equip students already fluent in English with a set of supplementary skills, it teaches them to acquaint themselves with the literary idioms of the many languages of the sub-continent and of Europe.

It encourages them to grapple with some of the most radical theses on the modern as they have been developed for instance by such thinkers as Foucault and Benjamin on the one hand, and Gandhi and Ambedkar on the other. It asks them to take seriously the political and personal stakes involved in the struggles around indigenous lands, sexuality, caste and gender.

The Programme understands literary writing as the patterning of life after thought and as such it places the greatest emphasis on writing that is philosophically informed. To this end, the Programme is keen on fostering generic innovation as students write in a way that traverses genres, media (dance, film, theatre, the visual arts) and historical and geographic boundaries. They must, at the same time, develop an ability to reflect essayistically on the nature and evolution of their own trajectory over the course of the two years; and this reflective essay or memoire will be evaluated alongside their Literary output

Programme Objectives:

The Programme seeks to develop the profile of the writer as a committed intellectual well-versed in the literary and aesthetic movements of the modern period; such a writer cannot be unaware of the literary history of the medieval and ancient epochs both of Asia (especially India) and the West; nor can such a writer remain aloof from the key political and social issues of our times. Such an apprenticement in the life of the mind is by no means a guarantee of employment. Nonetheless, to the extent that such training fosters a zeal for reading widely (the capacity for unstinting erudition) and a capacity for thought that is both historically self-reflexive and philosophically radical, to that very extent will the Literary Art Programme minimally imprint on a students’ literary oeuvre the mark of originality. The latter may well find favour in the field of literary journalism, publishing, new media and advertising.

Programme Structure

It is a two year course with two semesters each year. A semester is of 16 weeks duration. The students should register for a minimum 16 credits each semester and need to earn 64 credits to complete the Programme. They may register for more credits on payment of extra fees. All the students of SCCE need to take three common foundational courses, one each in the first three semesters, for 12 credits in total. They should also take four Elective Courses offered by the School or any other School in the University, one each in all the four semesters, for 16 credits in total. They need to take seven compulsory Core Courses from their respective discipline for 28 credits in total. Their MA dissertation work and display in the final semester will earn them eight credits.

Courses

The Foundation Courses, common to all students in the School, provide them with exposure to key texts in Critical Theory and Cultural Studies. The Elective Courses offered in the School explore interdisciplinary grounds of all the four programmes.

Core Courses in Literary Arts entail an apprenticeship in both the theory and practice of literature, in equal part. Students are encouraged to gain an insight into the nature of generic invention, the range of generic possibilities (novel, short story, poem, essays and other genres such as travelogue), the politics of literary history and canonisation, the pressing needs of the new comparative literature involving literary traditions outside the Euro-American orbit, and the relation between the history of literary theory and the history of philosophy (the latter includes the history of aesthetic theory).

Course Requirements

The course has its specific set of requirements which are spelt out during the orientation programme where the courses are presented. The requirements may consist of regular attendance and classroom participation, written assignments of different lengths, classroom presentations and intensive discussions of literary output (especially in the writing practicum), take-home exams, diarised observations and so on. There are no time-bound term-end exams. The final assignment is typically in the form of a required term paper. The completion of the programme successfully and meritoriously will depend on the completion of the required number of courses, voluntary participation in all activities of the School, writing and presenting a dissertation at the end of the second year.

M.A. LITERARY AR

Semester I	Semester II	Semester III	Semester IV
Foundation Course - I	Foundation Course – II	Foundation Course - III	Core Course – VII Indian Language Writings
Elective – I	Elective – II	Elective – III	Elective – IV
Core Course – I Concept Development and Experimentation - I	Core Course – III Comparative Literary Studies: Introduction to Genealogical Research	Core Course – V Concept Development and Experimentation – III	Dissertation
Core Course – II Forms of Life/Forms of Literature	Core Course – IV Concept Development and Experimentation - II	Core Course – VI Strategies of Creative Writing	Dissertation

SELECTED LIST OF ELECTIVE

Monsoon Semester (for Semesters 1 and 3)

1.	Body in the Performative Matrix
2.	Theories on the Avant-Garde
3.	Space and Spectatorship
4.	Lineages of the Contemporary
5.	Visuality: A Historical Overview

Winter Semester (for Semesters 2 and 4)

1.	Sensorium: Building and Debris
2.	Modernism: Imprints of the Political
3.	Post Colonialism: Literature and Arts
4.	Aesthetics and Social Stratification
5.	Art and Social Movements

LIST OF FOUNDATION COURSES

1.	Critical Theory
2.	Cultural Studies
3.	Theories on Marginality

Eligibility

The minimum eligibility criterion is an undergraduate degree in any discipline with pass marks (or an equivalent grade) from a recognised University. Candidates must display a keen interest in literary history and genericity, in addition to some knowledge and appreciation of a range of literary texts.

Candidates appearing for the final year examination of a degree can also apply.