AustLit

'What does the recent rise in prominence of moves to decolonize the curriculum in English departments across universities in the UK mean for what we teach, how, why, and to whom?

'I want to start by thinking about the resistance to these moves to decolonize the curriculum. Some of this opposition is a knee-jerk backlash. In the spirit of Thomas B. Macaulay’s disparagement of non-European texts, there remains a lurking suspicion in Senior Common Rooms across the country that literature from the global south does not “merit” consideration alongside “the classics”. This is rarely articulated so bluntly but instead finds expression, often sotto voce, in claims that proposed reforms provide yet another example of “political correctness gone mad”.'  (Ruvani Ranasinha, Editorial introduction)