Now, 'troll' finds its way into college textbooks in Kerala

You can like the trolls or hate them but you can’t ignore them. And now, the academics of our State have realised it as well. A section on ‘Troll’ has been included under the chapter ‘Social Media’ as part of the second semester syllabus of the BA Communicative English and Journalism course, Calicut University. In the textbook, you can even see a troll featuring Dileep and Salimkumar, where a student asks why he is expected to close his books while writing an exam while teachers teach with their textbooks open! Prominent troll groups like International Chalu Union and Troll Malayalam have found a mention in the chapter.
While the second semester hasn’t kicked off yet, the ‘trollans’ are more than excited. “This spells victory for trollans! Hallelujah!” says Parthasarathy Kurup, a trollan, while Harikrishnan, a graduation student and also a representative of the group ‘Troll Republic’, observes, “Trolls are a part of contemporary culture and this is just a reflection of that. But trolls were looked down upon by the serious minded. Even now trolling is mocked by many. Its inclusion in a textbook is a reply to all that. People will now realise how impactful trolls are. Trollans are all proud at this moment,” he says.
Sreepriya, a faculty member of the English Department, Victoria College, agrees. “It sounds interesting, and I feel the subject should be explored further. Being youngsters, students will all be familiar with trolls. And journalism students should definitely be aware of it.” Sreepriya, whose PhD was on internet studies, however, adds that the subject should be presented in a sensible manner. “Trolls can be used and abused as well. I hope it talks about how trolling is a technique which can be misused, especially to abuse women online. It has to be viewed critically. But I would never say it shouldn’t be included in the curriculum.”
At the same time, not all teachers are in favour of the inclusion. An English teacher from Thiruvananthapuram who doesn’t wish to be named, says that she doesn’t approve of the move. “I hope it doesn’t go to the application level, and teach students how to make a troll. The not-so tech savvy among the students shouldn’t see it as an encouragement and approval of trolling,” she says.
Well, next time you spot a student scrolling through trolls, don’t stop him, he might just be preparing for his exams!