Pedagogic Predicament

Abstract

Initially implicated in the political agenda of colonialism, English studies within the postcolonial situation has continued and expanded. Teaching English in an undergraduate college, my predicament (one that is shared by other such teachers) stems from an acute awareness of the problematic status of English studies and the contradictions that are endemic to teaching it as a language and literature subject within a context where access to English still remains tied to class identity, social power and cultural privilege. Even as a number of us have welcomed the unfettering of traditional English studies so that we can connect it in our English literature classrooms to questions of imperial politics, race and class, we also teach English in the form of a grammar-based curriculum within the same institution to what are known as ‘B’ and ‘C’ stream students in ways that leave no room for political questioning or subversion. Thus, while in our English literature classrooms we talk about our resistant postcolonial identities, within these language classrooms we have to privilege learners’ utilitarian expectations and their legitimate desire for social empowerment.