New Literatures in English Solved Assignment
IGNOU’s MEG-08: New Literatures in English is arguably the most fascinating and intellectually stimulating course in the MA English (MEG) program. Through this paper, students are made familiar with various literatures written in English in different postcolonial settings, especially in Africa, the Caribbean, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Asia. It focuses on issues of identity, migration, race, gender, culture, and resistance to colonial rule.
If you are searching for the IGNOU MEG-08 Solved Assignment (July 2025 – January 2026), you’ve landed on the correct page. In this article, Academic Vox offers you a detailed solved assignment, explanations, and guidelines for obtaining high scores in your assignments.
Assignment Details
- Program: MA English (MEG)
- Course Code: MEG-08
- Course Title: New Literatures in English
- Session: July 2025 – January 2026
Assignment Submission Last Date: Generally, March 31 (for January session) & September 30 (for July session). Kindly refer to the official IGNOU guidelines.
About MEG-08: New Literatures in English
The course delves into how authors from postcolonial countries employ the English language to express their experiences, identities, and struggles. It looks at authors such as:
- Chinua Achebe (Africa)
- Wole Soyinka (Africa)
- Derek Walcott (Caribbean)
- Margaret Atwood (Canada)
- Patrick White (Australia)
- Salman Rushdie (India)
- Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o (Kenya)
Through reading these writers, students are introduced to topics such as cultural hybridity, decolonization, gender roles, nationalism, and diaspora.
IGNOU MEG-08 Solved Assignment (July 2025 – January 2026)
Following are the solved answers to the assignment questions. These are presented in simple, academic, and plagiarism-free language to enable you to frame your own submission accordingly.
Section A
Q1. Identify the principal themes in New Literatures in English. (500–600 words)
Answer:
New Literatures in English, or postcolonial literatures, explore how novelists in erstwhile colonies negotiate with colonial legacies while forging new identities. The principal themes are:
- Colonialism and Resistance – Most books engage with the colonial past, faulting exploitation and reclaiming cultural pride. Achebe’s Things Fall Apart is the quintessential case where indigenous Igbo culture resists colonial encroachment.
- Identity and Hybridity – Postcolonial authors tend to struggle with double identities, mediating between native customs and colonial influences. Homi Bhabha’s notion of “hybridity” describes this cultural mediation.
- Migration and Diaspora – Displacement, exile, and belonging are dominant themes, particularly in authors such as Salman Rushdie and V.S. Naipaul.
- Language and Power – English as colonial language is both instrument of oppression and empowerment. Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o denounces linguistic imperialism, while authors such as Derek Walcott creatively appropriate English.
- Feminism and Gender – Authors such as Margaret Atwood and Tsitsi Dangarembga place women’s voices at the center, engaging with themes of patriarchy, gender oppression, and empowerment.
- Memory and History – Fiction retrieves repressed histories and oral culture, voicing oppressed communities.
Hence, New Literatures in English are both art and political subversion, presenting a pluralistic vision of world literatures.
Q2. Provide a critical note on the Caribbean identity within Derek Walcott’s poetry. (500–600 words)
Answer:
Derek Walcott, the St. Lucian Nobel Prize-winning poet, is renowned for his probing of Caribbean identity through colonialism, slavery, and multicultural influences. His poetry is representative of the conflicts between European heritage and Afro-Caribbean culture.
- Dual Heritage – Walcott himself was of African and European mixed descent, and this is the heritage that influenced his poetry. In A Far Cry from Africa, he is torn between African roots and European literary heritage.
- Language and Expression – Walcott seamlessly fuses English with the Caribbean vernacular, giving rise to a distinctive poetic voice. This language hybridity mirrors the Caribbean’s cultural mix.
- History and Trauma – His poetry deals with the wounds of slavery and colonialism but also with celebrating Caribbean resilience.
- Myth and Nature – Walcott employs classical myths and Caribbean landscapes, synthesizing global and local customs.
Walcott’s poetry is therefore an identificatory search that recognizes suffering but also welcomes hybridity and creativity.
Q3. Discuss the portrayal of women in Margaret Atwood’s writing. (500–600 words)
Answer:
Margaret Atwood, Canada’s most influential author, has always foregrounded the lives of women in patriarchal cultures. Her works like The Handmaid’s Tale, Surfacing, and Alias Grace uncover themes of oppression, resistance, and survival.
- Patriarchy and Control – Atwood in The Handmaid’s Tale dissects authoritarian control of women’s bodies and rights.
- Identity and Autonomy – Most of her female protagonists have trouble claiming individuality in oppressive settings.
- History and Memory – Atwood returns to a historical crime in Alias Grace to challenge women’s place in society.
- Ecofeminism – Atwood frequently equates women with nature, revealing environmental and gender exploitation.
Her fiction challenges structural inequalities while empowering women’s voices, making her a key voice in feminist writing.
Section B
Q4. Analyse Chinua Achebe’s contribution to African literature. (500–600 words)
Answer:
Chinua Achebe is generally considered to be the father of contemporary African literature. Achebe’s novel Things Fall Apart destroyed colonial myths about Africa and brought the Igbo culture with all its dignity and complexity before the reading public.
- Achebe privileged cultural pride and rejected Eurocentric representations.
- Achebe employed English in Africanized forms, using proverbs and oral culture.
- His writing features the collision between tradition and modernity and colonial disruption.
- He influenced upcoming African writers such as Ngũgĩ and Soyinka.
Achebe’s legacy is his placing African voices on the world literature map and rebuffing erasure.
Q5. Discuss the theme of exile in Salman Rushdie’s novels. (500–600 words)
Answer:
Salman Rushdie, author of Midnight’s Children and The Satanic Verses, frequently addresses themes of exile, migration, and identity.
- His characters tend to occupy liminal spaces, suspended between India and the West.
- Exile is both loss and opportunity for creativity, permitting hybrid identities.
- In Midnight’s Children, Saleem Sinai tells the story of India’s partition through disjunctive memories, a marker of diasporic consciousness.
- Rushdie’s own experience in exile informs his concern with displacement and belonging.
Exile in Rushdie’s novels, therefore, stands as a symbol of rupture and reinvention.
Q6. Critically evaluate the role of Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o in resisting colonial cultural domination. (500–600 words)
Answer:
Ngugi Thiong’o, a Kenyan author, is famous for discouraging English and encouraging African languages in literature.
- In Decolonising the Mind, he accuses the cultural imperialism of English.
- He contends that language is at the core of identity, and African languages need to be recovered.
- His novels such as A Grain of Wheat and Petals of Blood reveal colonial repression and postcolonial conflict.
- By switching to writing in Gikuyu, Ngũgĩ symbolically battled linguistic domination.
His books are the epitome of the struggle for cultural liberation and point to literature’s role in decolonization.
Tips to Score High in MEG-08 Assignment
- Write in your own words – Do not copy-paste from guides or online resources.
- Use critical perspectives – Refer to scholars such as Homi Bhabha, Edward Said, and Gayatri Spivak.
- Keep word limit – Keep it between 500–600 words per answer.
- Adhere to IGNOU layout – Use A4 paper, correct margins, and readable handwriting.
5. Hand in on or before time – No late submissions accepted.
Download IGNOU MEG-08 Solved Assignment PDF (July 2025 – January 2026)
[Click here to download the solved assignment PDF] (You can put your PDF link here).
Conclusion
IGNOU’s MEG-08: New Literatures in English July 2025 – January 2026 session assignment is a learning experience for students to connect with dynamic postcolonial literatures from all around the world. Through the study of colonialism, identity, exile, hybridity, and gender themes, students not only learn to face exams but also acquire critical knowledge about world literatures.