Education and Neo-colonization: A Critique of English Literature Curriculum in Pakistan

This research seeks to examine the study of the topic mentioned in Pakistani educational context and English literature being taught after the creation of Pakistan. An attempt has also been made to look into the cultural and socio-political dimensions of control which were established by the British colonist through the implementation of their language and literature in subcontinent in 1835. Furthermore, Antonio Gramsci (1935) and Edward Said‟s (1979, 1983) theoretical and conceptual models are used to describe the ongoing process of cultural hegemony, which is being carried on through educational institutions. This has been dealt with by attempting to discuss the present English curriculum at post graduate level with especial reference to Punjab University in the light of the research topic. The research aimed to find out how hegemony of the Western literature is perpetuated through education in Pakistan therefore; the theoretical and conceptual frameworks were investigated through a detailed library research. The theoretical analysis as well as the curriculum content selection was analyzed qualitatively, in order to highlight the role and importance of other literatures in english in the curriculum as other and indigenous cultural representations in education to neutralize and decentralize the Anglo centricity that exists in our present pedagogy of English literature in higher education.