Palgrave MacMillan
Language as Identity in Colonial India: Policies and Politics
Key Metrics
- Papia SenGupta
- Palgrave MacMillan
- Paperback
- 9789811349591
- 8.27 X 5.83 X 0.31 inches
- 0.4 pounds
- Political Science > World - Asian
- English
Secure TransactionBook Description
This book is a systematic narrative, tracking the colonial language policies and acts responsible for the creation of a sense of self-identity and culminating in the evolution of nationalistic fervor in colonial India. British policy on language for administrative use and as a weapon to rule led to the parallel development of Indian vernaculars: poets, novelists, writers and journalists produced great and fascinating work that conditioned and directed India's path to independence. The book presents a theoretical proposition arguing that language as identity is a colonial construct in India, and demonstrates this by tracing the events, policies and changes that led to the development and churning up of Indian national sentiments and attitudes. It is a testimony of India's linguistic journey from a British colony to a modern state. Demonstrating that language as basis of identity was a colonial construct in modern India, the book asserts that any in-depth understanding of identity and politics in contemporary India remains incomplete without looking at colonial policies on language and education, from which the multiple discourses on self and belonging in modern India emanated.
Author Bio
I joined JNU in 2015 after teaching in Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi. My Ph. D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University on Linguistic Minorities and Group Rights. My research papers have been published in Economic and Political Weekly, Geoforum, International Journal on Diversity of Organisations, Communities and Nations, Indian Journal of Political Science.
I edited a special issue titled Cultures meet the law co-edited along with Prof. Probal Dasgupta published in French in Droit et Cultures. My first monograph titled Language(s) in India: Identity, Diversity and Institutions is under contract with Cambridge University Press. I am passionate about teaching and my work was awarded the Distinguished Teacher Award from University of Delhi by the former President of India in 2009.
My research interests include, but are not, limited to, multicultural studies, minority rights, language and diversity, federal governance. Apart from research and teaching I love classical music and rock, an uncommon combination.
Education
- MA in Political Studies, Centre for Political Studies, Sxchool of Social Sciences, JNU
- M.Phil in Multiculturalism and Political Theory , CPS, JNU
- Ph.D in Political Theory in South Asia
Source: The University of Edinburgh
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