
Professor Javed Majeed
Professor of English and Comparative Literature
Research interests
- Literature
Contact details
Biography
From 1981 to 1984 Professor Javed Majeed read English Language and Literature at Magdalen College Oxford, in which he was awarded a First. After completing his DPhil at Oxford, he went on to a Smuts Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge, and a Research Fellowship in English Literature at Churchill College Cambridge from 1988 to 1992. The interdisciplinary combination of Area Studies with English Literature continues to inform his teaching and research. After teaching Comparative Literature and Urdu at SOAS, he moved to the School of English and Drama at Queen Mary, University of London, in 1999, where he became Professor of Postcolonial Studies in 2007. He joined King’s College London as Professor of English and Comparative Literature in January 2012.
Research Interests
- Colonial and postcolonial literatures in English
- Intellectual and cultural history of British India and postcolonial South Asia
- Religion, colonialism and postcolonialism
- Urdu literature, especially poetry
- Linguistic ideas, language and translation in colonial and postcolonial South Asia
For more details, please see his full research profile.
Research
Empires and Decolonizations Research Hub
Empires have been a common part of the lived experience of people around the globe through millennia. Understanding the history of these empires is more important than ever as societies grapple with imperial legacies and decolonizing processes. These different empires had their own temporalities, modalities, dynamics and contexts, but comparative study facilitates understanding and can prompt new and fruitful lines of enquiry. King’s College London has exceptional scholarly expertise in empires, whether ancient or modern. This hub brings these scholars together to facilitate such conversations and to serve as a resource for our community and beyond.
News
Four King's academics elected as British Academy Fellows
The British Academy has elected four King’s academics as new Fellows

International Workshop on National Multilingualism reveals connections between Horn of Africa and South Asia
A two-day workshop, attended by scholars from multiple universities across the globe, revealed the challenges and opportunities created by multilingualism in...

Research
Empires and Decolonizations Research Hub
Empires have been a common part of the lived experience of people around the globe through millennia. Understanding the history of these empires is more important than ever as societies grapple with imperial legacies and decolonizing processes. These different empires had their own temporalities, modalities, dynamics and contexts, but comparative study facilitates understanding and can prompt new and fruitful lines of enquiry. King’s College London has exceptional scholarly expertise in empires, whether ancient or modern. This hub brings these scholars together to facilitate such conversations and to serve as a resource for our community and beyond.
News
Four King's academics elected as British Academy Fellows
The British Academy has elected four King’s academics as new Fellows

International Workshop on National Multilingualism reveals connections between Horn of Africa and South Asia
A two-day workshop, attended by scholars from multiple universities across the globe, revealed the challenges and opportunities created by multilingualism in...
