This course introduces students to the literature of the Indian subcontinent, which is situated within the broader region of South Asia (Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). It surveys a selection of translated texts in various Indian languages from the classical to the postcolonial periods and explores a range of genres such as the epic, drama, poetry, essay writing, the short story, the novel, and film. In particular, we will examine how key cultural concepts have reappeared across Indian literary traditions over time, re-imagined within the context of specific historical junctures and socio-linguistic networks. We will thus give attention to themes such as the conflict between tradition and modernity, man-woman relationships, communalism and caste conflict, colonialism and nationalism, problems of translation, and the intersections between ideas of religiosity and ideas of the literary.