This course examines the tensions and boundaries between what is known as the canon in literature and notions of popular culture. By asking questions about how a canon comes to be and what the relationship of the canon is to history and colonialism, the course looks at the politics of the idea of taste while putting this in context with different practices and methods of approaching literary and cultural texts. Why does ​‘Pride and Prejudice’ produce a piece of chick lit like ​’Bridget Jones Diary’ or what makes Shakespeare important enough across continents and centuries to produce a film ​‘Haider’ in India?