Subaltern Counter-Narrative Pedagogy: A Cross-Cultural Discourse Framework for Transformative ELT
Main Article Content
Abstract
The representation of marginalized voices in literary traditions offers valuable possibilities for language pedagogy. Epic and dramatic texts frequently privilege dominant perspectives, while alternative voices remain suppressed or framed negatively. This study proposes a Subaltern Counter-Narrative Pedagogy as a cross-cultural discourse framework for English Language Teaching. The research examines Valmiki's Ramayana, Anand Neelakantan's Asura: Tale of the Vanquished, Aeschylus' Prometheus Bound, and Percy Bysshe Shelley's Prometheus Unbound through qualitative comparative discourse analysis. The analysis identifies patterns of authority, resistance, and narrative inversion across Eastern and Western traditions. The findings indicate that subaltern discourse challenges hegemonic structures and reconstructs moral hierarchies. Based on this analysis, the study develops a pedagogical framework that integrates counter-narratives into ELT classrooms. The proposed model encourages critical literacy, intercultural awareness, and reflective engagement with language. The framework demonstrates that cross-cultural subaltern narratives can function as effective tools for transformative language learning. This study contributes an original pedagogical model that combines discourse analysis, comparative literature, and critical pedagogy for ELT practice.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
How to Cite
References
Abrams, M. H. (1971). Natural supernaturalism: Tradition and revolution in Romantic literature. Norton.
Aeschylus. (2009). Prometheus bound (J. Scully & C. J. Herington, Trans.). Oxford University Press. (Original work published c. 430 BCE)
Curran, S. (1986). Shelley's emancipation of Prometheus. Studies in Romanticism, 25(3), 291–306. https://doi.org/10.2307/25600538
Fairclough, N. (1995). Critical discourse analysis: The critical study of language. Longman.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum.
Goldhill, S. (1986). Reading Greek tragedy. Cambridge University Press.
Gramsci, A. (1971). Selections from the prison notebooks (Q. Hoare & G. N. Smith, Eds. & Trans.). International Publishers.
Hutcheon, L. (2002). The politics of postmodernism (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culture in language teaching. Oxford University Press.
Mukherjee, M. (2010). Revisionist mythologies in contemporary Indian fiction. Journal of Postcolonial Writing, 46(3–4), 352–362. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449855.2010.490867
Neelakantan, A. (2012). Asura: Tale of the vanquished. Leadstart Publishing.
Pollock, S. (1993). Ramayana and political imagination in India. The Journal of Asian Studies, 52(2), 261–297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2059648
Richman, P. (Ed.). (1991). Many Ramayanas: The diversity of a narrative tradition in South Asia. University of California Press.
Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Pantheon Books.
Shelley, P. B. (2008). Prometheus unbound: A lyrical drama (L. Pettman, Ed.). Dodo Press. (Original work published 1820)
Spivak, G. C. (1988). Can the subaltern speak? In C. Nelson & L. Grossberg (Eds.), Marxism and the interpretation of culture (pp. 271–313). University of Illinois Press.
Valmiki. (1987). The Ramayana of Valmiki: An epic of ancient India (R. P. Goldman, Trans. & Ed., Vol. 1). Princeton University Press.
Vernant, J.-P. (1990). Myth and tragedy in ancient Greece (J. Lloyd, Trans.). Zone Books.
Wodak, R., & Meyer, M. (Eds.). (2009). Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.