Offered completely in English translation, this course aims to introduce modern literatures in the Tamil language written in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Malaysia and other Tamil diasporic spaces. In the course, students will encounter a wide variety of literary aesthetic practices that shape contemporary Tamil literary histories and their interactions with the larger national literary discourses that shape South and Southeast Asia. Through critical reading and analysis from mid-19th century to the present historical moment, students will discover how literature is closely linked to the creation and evolution of global Tamil history, culture and identity.