HNUR 592: Religious Conflict and Literature in India

This course, taught in English, explores the roots and modern manifestations of religious conflict in India and South Asia through literature and historiography. Intersections between religion, gender, caste, and politics will also be discussed. We will study works from the Sultanate and Mughal periods, the British colonial period, the freedom movement and Partition, and continue into the present day with the resurgence of religious nationalism. Short stories, poetry, historical writings, and novels in translation are used to explore how conflicts over religious sites, religious conversion, interfaith marriage, image worship, and language contribute to a sense of conflicting religious identity. We will also interrogate the notion of “Ganga-Jumni” (hybrid) culture, and examine how it is being re-interpreted and challenged in India today. LA, BN.