'Eloquently written and combining numerous penetrating insights into the linguistic and literary formations of the subject, this is a wide ranging, challenging and thought-provoking exploration of key issues - past and present - in 21st century English Studies world-wide.' Ronald Carter, Research Professor of Modern English Language (Emeritus Professor), University of Nottingham, UK

'Suman Gupta achieves a rare feat with this book: In addition to complicating traditional histories of philology in the Anglophone world by a comparative study of the UK, the U.S., and India, he manages to explain and critique the longevity of the empty signifier "philology" as a fascinatingly adaptive amalgam of cultural, linguistic, and literary theories and practices. Instead of an English Studies beholden to ever-new returns of an essentializing philology, Gupta proposes a reconceptualization of the field characterized by the joyous pluralism of global Englishes and a new co-disciplinary collaboration between linguistics and literary studies.' Richard Utz, Chair and Professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

Suman Gupta is Professor of Literature and Cultural History at the Open University UK. Recent books include The Theory and Reality of Democracy, Social Constructionist Identity Politics and Literary Studies, Globalization and Literature, Imagining Iraq, and Consumable Texts in Contemporary India.