Teaching Indian English Poetry

It is always a challenge to teach poetry. Because in the case of fiction or drama, the experience of the students within the field of popular culture is continued in their encounter with the literary works that get prescribed in syllabi. This is so not completely but approximately. When it comes to poetry, students’ familiarity with poetry in popular culture is mainly through film songs, pop music. Whereas, poetry prescribed is very different from these songs. This results in a sort of incomprehension of the significance of the poems.

Studying Indian English poetry faces further complications. How does one ‘place’ these poems? How do we explain the ranges of their significance to students? How to make them accessible to students experience?

Well, I would like to hear from my readers regarding their idea on how to read Indian English poetry. Whether you have been teaching or studying, what has been your experience? How do you go about cracking IEP?

Do share your views with me.

 

Shakespeare’s Sonnet in Indian Classroom

Shakespeare’s sonnet in an undergrad class in India becomes a bit tough. This is so not because of any obscurity. With very little operative allusions, topicality, Shakespeare’s sonnets are accessible at the linguistic level. What is tough is carrying across the significance, as is always the case with poetry. I have always felt my students wear a puzzled look trying to work out why is the poem worth studying.

They can follow the ‘idea’, they can follow the sum total of the words, the prosody, all: but, so what? I feel this puzzle remains mainly because sonnet is not a familiar form of poetry to them. A Shakesperean sonnet doesnt ‘appear’ as a sweet song when only read.

Sonnet 116 - from: http://www.macjams.com/song/7476

This time I let them listen to a musical rendition. It is a ‘MacJams collaboration of Jack Miller (dadai), Richard Schletty (rschletty) and Michael Lavoie (Mr. EI Oval)’.  Available here. This worked. Listening to the song my students  could place it and that changed their perception of the poem.