EDNOTE. This  Indian item below (in addition to the charming juxtaposition of Lolita with the heroine  of Gorky's hilarious _Mother_, the foundation novel of the Socialist Realist genre) provides a pretext for mentioning one of the best of the neo-Lolita spawn--- Lee Siegal's
 "Love in a Dead Language" (1999). If you read only one novel this summer.....
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Sandy P. Klein
Newindpress.com
 
http://www.newindpress.com/Newsitems.asp?ID=IEP20030815135037&Title=States&rLink=0
 

Saturday August 16 2003 00:00 IST

Varsity's English courses to have Hindi films, PM's poems

MEERUT: The Chaudhry Charan Singh University in Meerut has decided to withdraw the Prime Minister's translated poems and the President's essay from the revised English syllabus for degree courses.

The University Board of Studies, which met on Thursday, decided to adopt the previous syllabus. The controversial portions are being removed, university sources said on Friday.

The university stirred a hornet's nest by deleting Shakespeare and George Bernard Shaw from its revised syllabus and including translated works of part-time poet Prime Minister A B Vajpayee and controversial writer Salman Rushdie. As if that wasn't enough, the new syllabus had Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita rubbing shoulders with Maxim Gorky's Mother.

President A P J Abdul Kalam's essay ``Patriotism beyond politics and Religion'' found a place in the new syllabus along with a study of films like Guide, Devdas, Umrao Jaan and Pather Panchali.
While Vice-Chancellor Dr R.P. Singh expressed surprise over the inclusion of Vajpayee's poems, student leaders threatened to launch an agitation.

University Campus Student Union leader Kapil Bisla alleged that the PM's poems had been included at the behest of the RSS. Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal echoed the same view. The party's western UP leader Satendra Bharala claimed that by including Vajpayee's works, the sentiments of the dominant Muslim community were not being respected. ``Rushdie can't visit India. So why will his works be taught at the university,'' asked Bharala.

In his defence, Dr Bhagwat S. Goel, former head of the English Department, SD College, who drew up the new syllabus, said that it was deliberately broad-based. ``Till now, the syllabus has been British-oriented. An attempt has been made to give representation to a wide range of writings.''

According to him, the opposition to the syllabus was being orchestrated by vested inte! rests, especially those who ran coaching centres. So far, they would m ake do with photocopied copies of old notes, now teachers will have to update their knowledge.

What was in, what was out

Two translated poems of Vajpayee _ ``No war again'' and ``We shall never bend'' _ were part of the BA syllabus. In the MA course, as many as eight poems had been included. While the PM's poems were to be taught in the first year, Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and Macbeth got the axe. Also discarded were George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man. Also included in the MA course were Bisham Sahni's Tamas, Amrita Pritam's Raseedi Ticket, Jawahar Lal Nehru's biography, Salman Rushdie's The Moor and the Last Sigh.

 
==============================================
 
http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29728
 

Saturday, August 16, 2003
 
National Network
 
PM loses to Bard, Shaw
 
M V R RAO
 
MEERUT, AUGUST 15: The Chaudhry Charan Singh University in Meerut has decided to withdraw the Prime Minister’s translated poems and the President’s essay from the revised English syllabus for degree courses.

The University Board of Studies, which met yesterday, has decided to adopt the previous syllabus. The controversial portions are being removed, university sources said today.

The university stirred a hornet’s nest by deleting Shakespeare and G.B. Shaw from its revised syllabus and including translated works of part-time poet Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee and controversial writer Salman Rushdie. As if that wasn’t enough, the new syllabus had Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita rubbing shoulders with Maxim Gorky’s Mother.

President Kalam’s essay ‘‘Patriotism beyond politics and Religion’’ found a place in the new syllabus along with a study of films like Guide, Devdas, Umrao Jaan and Pather Panchali.

While university Vice-Chancellor Dr R.P. Singh expressed surprise over the inclusion of Vajpayee’s poems, student leaders threatened to launch an agitation.

University Campus Student Union leader Kapil Bisla alleged that the PM’s poems had been included at the behest of the RSS. Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal echoed the same view. The party’s western UP leader Satendra Bharala claimed that by including Vajpayee’s works, the sentiments of the dominant Muslim community were not being respected. ‘‘Rushdie can’t visit India. So why will his works be taught at the university,’’ asked Bharala.

In his defence, Dr Bhagwat S. Goel, former head of the English Department, SD College, who drew up the new syllabus, said that it was deliberately broad-based. ‘‘Till now, the syllabus has been British-oriented. An attempt has been made to give representation to a wide range of writings.’’

According to him, the opposition to the syllabus was being orchestrated by vested interests, especially those who ran coaching centres. So far, they would make do with photocopied copies of old notes, now teachers will have to update their knowledge.

 
 

URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/full_story.php?content_id=29728

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


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