How did English/ English Studies gain support and consolidation in post independent India?

Anthologies are embedded in a hideous politics. Powerful publishing houses, usually foreign publishing houses that have their branches in India, like the Oxford University Press and Macmillan, lobby for contracts to publish anthologies prescribed at universities. Tiney approach the English departments of various universities and bargain to publish these textbooks. It is a lucrative, hassle-free and prestigious contract for them. Once an anthology is published, year after year, the publishing house simply reprints it without any significant production costs. It is an assured and a recurring source of profit for them.

Syllabus revision is a very tardy and backbreaking phenomenon in Indian universities. Hence, once a contract for an anthology has been procured, the publishing house can laugh its way to the bank year after year for a considerable length of time. Departments, syllabus selection committees work in tandem with the publishing houses. It is an easy transference of responsibility to hand in texts in anthologised form for publication by prestigious publishing houses in lndia with ‘foreign’ connections. Anthologies are ideologically confused texts.