Best Books to Study Indian English Literature – for your knowledge and UGC NET Examination

What are the best books to study Indian English literature? In this video, #AlokMishra, founder of the #EnglishLiterature Education platform, discusses three major books, two by the first generation of Indian English literature critics and one by the second generation stalwart. K R Srinivas Iyengar's Indian Writing in English, M K Naik's A History of Indian English Literature and A K Mehrotra's edited book A Concise History of Indian Literature in English are the books that feature in this video by Alok Mishra.

Other than discussing these three books, Alok also suggests how can a student get the maximum out of these books and, at the same time, read a few books by contemporary authors who discuss Indian English literature beyond the 1980s and 1990s. The books on Indian English literature that focus on objective questions for NET aspirants, helpful for UGC NET English literature examinations, offer an insight into the development of literature in India in English beyond the 20th century, in the 21st century. However, these books seldom discuss the concept of Indian English literature as a whole. And therefore, reading books by established, old, and traditionally accepted literary critics like Iyengar and Naik is much helpful.

Tip:
For 20th-century Indian English literature, you can read books by KR Srinivas Iyengar and MK Naik.
For literature beyond the 20th century, and Indian English literature in the 21st century, you can read a few books by modern authors who cover the same in depth. You can also read bulletin-type books for UGC NET English literature preparations.

The books on the History of Indian English literature cover:

Indian English Literature – development, growth, concept, as a whole
Indian English Poetry – 19th and 20th century – from the beginnings, Derozio, Toru Dutt and Sri Aurobindo, along with Sarojini Naidu and Tagore, from the first generation of well-received poets
Indian English Novel – 20th century – Raja Rao, Mulk Raj Anand, R K Narayan, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Chaman Nahal, Anita Desai, Amitav Ghosh and others

Modern books will cover modern Indian English literature like Chetan Bhagat, Shobha De, Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, Aravind Adiga, and others including poets like Jeet Thayil, Amit Chaudhuri etc.

In his videos, Alok Mishra discusses various aspects related to English literature. You can watch his regular lectures, discussions and debates on different topics related to English literature on this Youtube channel. Helpful for BA English literature, MA English literature, and students pursuing PhD, Alok's videos are also interesting for those who are interested in English literature and may find video notes on literature interesting.

[gauravjain]

If you really want to read a book on indian english literature then their is a book available in market as well as on online platform like amazon and filipkart named as A SIMPLE BOOK ON INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE by Ashok Kumar Jain and dr. Manav Bhardwaj.
The publisher has recently published it's 2nd revised edition which contain colonial, postcolonial, dalit, diasporic & indian aesthetics.

[ArghyaMukhopadhyay.]

Please go through A SIMPLE BOOK OF INDIAN ENGLISH LITERATURE for major works, dates, awards up to present day...

[SUsmita]

Hello sir..good afternoon, your videos are very helpful. Sir I am interested in literary theory ...but confused which topic should I take for research proposal...please sir can you suggest me which areas I can focus.

[Yiboo]

Is MK nair's book available online in pdf format if yes please tell me sir