Ankhi Mukherjee interviewed for the Cambridge Literary Studies Hour

This episode in the series Contours: The Cambridge Literary Studies Hour, presented by Professor Ato Quayson, delves into Open Access title Decolonizing the English Literary Curriculum, Edited by Ato Quayson and Ankhi Mukherjee.

This episode is hosted by Kasia Boddy since Ato is one of the Editors of this particular title.

George Floyd's death on May 25th 2020 marked a watershed in reactions to anti-Black racism in the United States and elsewhere. Intense demonstrations around the world followed. Within literary studies, the demonstrations accelerated the scrutiny of the literary curriculum, the need to diversify the curriculum, and the need to incorporate more Black writers.

Decolonizing the English Literary Curriculum is a major collection that aims to address these issues from a global perspective. An international team of leading scholars illustrate the necessity and advantages of reform from specific decolonial perspectives, with evidence-based arguments from classroom contexts, as well as establishing new critical agendas.

The significance of Decolonizing the English Literary Curriculum lies in the complete overhaul it proposes for the study of English literature. It reconnects English studies, the humanities, and the modern, international university to issues of racial and social justice.

This book is available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.