My interest lies in the broad area of Victorian literature, particularly the novel of the period. In class, I try to take a holistic approach by combining textual analysis (e.g. revisions), biographical information, socio-economic and historical context, and feminist issues. I am also interested in
the interface between science and literature in the nineteenth century, and in feminist studies
in general.
As the Head of the Dept for three years (Aug 2012 - Oct 2015), I was responsible for the smooth running of the Dept including the holding of University exams. As the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Siences (from 2013 to 2016), I was in charge of the admission process at the B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. (Humanities and Social Siences) levels, and expected to take responsibility for research activities. I was also on several University committees, like the Anti-ragging committee, apart from heading the Faculty Council in Humanities and Social Siences and being the Chair of the Doctorate Committee for Humanities and Social Siences.
B.A. in English Hons. (Univ. of Calcutta, 1982; from Presidency College). Stood first in First Class.
M.A. in English (Univ. of Calcutta, 1984). Stood first in First Class.
M.Phil. in English (Univ. of Calcutta, 1989). Stood first - no classes awarded by CU.
Ph.D. in English (Univ. of Leicester, UK, 1996) - on a 3-year Commonwealth Academic Staff Scholarship.
Visiting Fellow (post-doctoral research) at Yale University (USA) in 2011, on a six-month Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship.
I graduated from Presidency College and did my Masters and M.Phil. from the University of Calcutta. My Ph.D. was from the University of Leicester, UK, in 1996. My thesis was on Thomas Hardy's ambivalent attitude to women; this was subsequently published by Macmillan and St Martin's Press (now Palgrave) in 2000 (hardcover) and Anthem Press (2007, paperback).
My teaching career began at Loreto College, Kolkata, and then at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, in 1986. I taught at R.B.U. for 12+ years before joining Jadavpur University as Reader in 1999. I was promoted to full Professorship in Feb 2007and I became the Head of the English Dept in 2011. After serving JU for 13+ years, I joined Presidency University on 1st Aug 2012 as Professor and Head of the Dept of English.
My research work is Hardy related and I have published a full length monograph and several articles in international journals on this subject. I am also interested in the interface between science and literature in the nineteenth century, and in feminist studies in general.
My administrative experience includes being Head of the English Dept at Jadavpur University (2011-2012) and the Co-Ordinator of the 'Centre for Victorian Studies' at Jadavpur University (2010-2012). I have also been the Head of the English Dept at Presidency University (2012 to 2015) and the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences (2013 to 2016).
I generally teach texts from the Victorian period, i.e. both poetry and fiction, at the UG and PG levels. However, given that we are a small department, I am often obliged to teach right across the syllabus - from Old English poetry to Jean Rhys!
a) Ph.D.:
1) Debashish Sengupta, ‘Man’s Quandary: The Problem of Masculine Response to the “Woman Question” in the Fiction of Thomas Hardy’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2007.
2) Mimi Basu, ‘The Ambivalent Representation of Women in the Fiction of Somerset Maugham’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2007.
3) Oindrila Ghosh, ‘Less-than-perfect Mothers, Perfect Victims: A Study of Motherhood and Victimization of Women in Hardy’s Shorter Fiction’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2013.
4) Mousumi Guha Banerjee, ‘ ”My worthiness is all my doubt”: The Anxiety of Female Authorship in Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Christina Rossetti and Emily Dickinson’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2015.
5) Syeda Ayesha Ali, ‘Beyond Domesticity: Representations of Working Women in Victorian Fiction’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2015.
6) Saswati Halder, ‘ “A Goodness Entirely Human”: The Influence of Feuerbach on George Eliot’s Fiction’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2017.
7) Madhumita Majumdar, ‘The Bronte Novels: Anxiety, Rebellion and Varieties of Conservative Ideology’. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2017.
8) Parama Basu, 'Beyond the "Fleshly and Unlovely": Patterns of Female Agency in Victorian Sensation Fiction'. Ph.D. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2021.
9) Paromita Datta: registered as Ph.D. student at Presidency University.
10) Neelanjana Basu: registered as Ph.D. student at Presidency University.
11) Deblina Hazra: registered as Ph.D. student at Presidency University.
12) Manisha Bhattacharya: registered as Ph.D. student at Presidency University.
13) Damini Ray: registered as Ph.D. student at Presidency University.
b) M.Phil.:
1) Irene Saha, ‘ The “New Women”: Their Trials and Triumphs’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2008.
2) Madhulina Bauri, ‘The Literary Portrayal of Unwed Motherhood in Victorian Fiction’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2008.
3) Sangeeta Mukherjee, ‘The Representation of Female Sexuality in three Novels of the 1890s’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2010.
4) Neelanjana Basu, ‘Stopping the Wedding Guest: A Study of the “Supernatural” in the Shorter Fiction of Thomas Hardy’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2012.
5) Shantanu Majee, ‘Woman in a Man’s World: A Study of Mrs. Oliphant’s Life and Works’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2012.
6) Daisy Majumdar, ‘The Religion of Loving-kindness: Thomas Hardy’s Perspective on Religion in his Novels’. M.Phil. degree awarded by Jadavpur University in 2013.
1) Currently (i.e. since Jan. 2019) a Member of the Editorial Board for The Thomas Hardy Journal, published by 'The Thomas Hardy Society' (global; based in Dorchester, UK).
2) Currently an External Expert, Departmental Research Committee, Dept of English, The Sanskrit College and University.
3) Formerly an External Expert, PG Board of Studies, Dept of English, The University of Calcutta.
4) Formerly an External Member of the 'Board of Research Studies of English', Dept of English, West Bengal State University.
5) Formerly an External Expert, Board of Studies for PG, Dept of English, The Sanskrit College and University.
6) Formerly an External Expert, Departmental Research Committee, Dept of English, University of Kalyani.
7) Formerly an External Expert, PG Board of Studies in English, Lady Brabourne College.
8) Formerly an External Expert, PG Board of Studies in English, Bethune College.
9) Formerly an External Expert, 'Expert Committee for M.A. in English', The Bhawanipur Education Society College.
10) Formerly a Vice-President of 'The Thomas Hardy Association' (global; USA).
Books:
a) Dutta, S. (2000). Ambivalence in Hardy: A Study of His Attitude to Women. Macmillan (U.K.) and St Martin's Press (U.S.A.) – now known as 'Palgrave'. [us.macmillan.com/ambivalenceinhardy/ShantaDutta]
b) Dutta, S. (2004). A Critical Edition of Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native. New Delhi: Worldview Publications.
c) Dutta, S. (2007). Paperback edition of Ambivalence in Hardy: A Study of his Attitude to Women. London, New York and New Delhi: Anthem Press.
[www.anthempress.com/nineteenth-century.../ambivalence-in-hardy]
d) Dutta, S. (2023). 'At Once a Voice Arose': Selected Poems by Thomas Hardy. Noida: Amity University Press.
Articles:
1) Dutta, S. (1995). 'Thomas Hardy and the Deceased Wife's Sister Marriage Bill'. The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XI no. 2, pp. 61-64.
2) Dutta, S. (1996). 'Sue's Obscure Sisters'. The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XII no. 2, pp. 60-71.
3) Dutta, S. (1996). 'The "Lovingkindness" of Hardy's Revising Hand'. The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XII no. 3, pp. 79-80.
4) Dutta, S. (2000). Entries on ‘George Egerton’ (p. 114) and ‘Eliza Lynn Linton’ (pp. 242-43). Oxford Reader's Companion to Hardy ed. Norman Page (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
5) Dutta, S. (2000). 'Tree Obsession in Hardy and O. Henry'. Days to Recollect: Essays in Honour of Robert Schweik ed. Rosemarie Morgan (New Haven, U.S.A.: The Hardy Association Press), pp. 73-80.
6) Dutta, S. (2001). ‘Hardy’s use of Animals in his “Novels of Character and Environment”’. Essays and Studies, Journal of the Dept of English, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, Vol. XV, pp. 54-63.
7) Dutta, S. (2003). ‘Hardy and his Mayor: A Gendering of Critical Response’. The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XIX no. 2, pp. 33-40.
8) Dutta, S. (2005-6). ‘Darwinism and Dystopia in H. G. Wells’. Essays and Studies, Journal of the Dept of English, Jadavpur University, Vol. XIX-XX, pp. 61-70.
9) Dutta, S. (2010). ‘George Egerton: Redefining “Woman” in Victorian Patriarchy’. Moneta’s Veil: Essays on Nineteenth Century Literature ed. Malabika Sarkar (Delhi, Chennai and Chandigarh: Longman, an imprint of Pearson), pp. 23-33.
10) Dutta, S. (2010). ‘ “Murther, and Treason”: The Possible Influence of Macbeth on Jude the Obscure’. The Hardy Society Journal (UK), Vol. 6 no.1, pp. 65-74.
11) Dutta, S. (2012). ‘Teaching Tess of the d’Urbervilles in Kolkata’, Victorian Review, Vol. 38, No.1, pp. 29-33.
12) Dutta, S. (2013). ‘A Long Neglected Hardy Poem “Raked Up” ’, The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XXIX, pp. 114-120.
13) Dutta, S. (2016). ‘Bollywood Adaptations of Tess of the d’Urbervilles’, Literature Compass, Vol. 13, Issue 3, pp.196-202; Special Issue on ‘Hardy: Diverse Audiences’.
14) Dutta, S. (2018). '"I am one of a long row only" : Contemporary retellings of Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles', The Thomas Hardy Journal, U.K., Vol. XXXIV, pp. 67-76.
15) Dutta, S. (2019). ' "Soldiers in Petticoats": The Fight for Gender Equality in Britain', The Confidential Clerk, Vol. 5, Sept 2019, e-journal of 'Centre for Victorian Studies', Jadavpur University.
16) Dutta, S. (2021). 'The "measureless layers of history": Hardy and Archaeology', Presidency Alumni Association, Autumn Annual, Vol. XLIX 2020-2021, pp. 127-131.
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