DECOLONIZING THE ENGLISH LITERATURE CURRICULUM IN SOUTH ASIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES

Abstract

The issue of decolonizing higher education curricula has become an important area of study in post-colonial societies, especially concerning the field of English literary studies. While the political decolonization of South Asian countries has occurred, university curricula on English literature are still dominated by Eurocentric literary canons, Western theories, and epistemologies of colonialism. This study critically explores the complexities and opportunities connected to decolonizing English literature curricula in selected public and private sector universities of Pakistan. Based on a qualitative multi-method design involving curriculum analysis, document analysis, and semi-structured interviews with academics, curriculum coordinators, and postgraduate students, the results have shown that English literature curricula are still dominated by British canonical literature, underrepresentation of regional literary traditions, academic and institutional resistance to changes in the curriculum, and linguistic domination of English language. At the same time, the research highlights some recent developments, such as comparative approaches to literature, inclusion of post-colonial literature, and increased interest from students in decolonial pedagogies. This study shows that the process of decolonization needs to go beyond mere tokenism into transformative epistemological reconfiguration of literary studies. As a consequence, the paper suggests that South Asian decolonial literary pedagogy be framed within four major themes, namely multivocality, comparative literary studies, vernacularization, and critical consciousness.

Keywords: Decolonization; English Literature Curriculum; South Asian Higher Education; Coloniality; Postcolonial Pedagogy; Literary Canon; Epistemic Justice; Curriculum Reform