Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India

Description

Moving beyond the existing scholarship on language politics in north India which mainly focuses on Hindi–Urdu debates, Language Politics and Public Sphere in North India examines the formation of Maithili movement in the context of expansion of Hindi as the ‘national’ language. It revisits the dynamic hierarchy through which a distinction is produced between ‘major’ and ‘minor’ languages. The movement for recognition of Maithili as an independent language has grown assertive even when the authority of Hindi is resolutely reinforced.
The book also examines increasing politicization of the Maithili movement — from Hindi–Maithili ambiguities and antagonisms, to territorial consciousness, and subsequently to separate statehood demand, along with the persistent popular indifference. Mithilesh Jha examines such processes historically, tracing the formation of Maithili movement from mid-nineteenth century until its inclusion into the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution in 2003.

About the Author

Mithilesh Kumar Jha teaches Political Science in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, India.

Reviews

‘A “language” may be a “dialect” with an army, but the historical, political, social, and conceptual processes involved in the transformation from the one to the other are far deeper than that famous quip allows. Few examples of such transformation in India are more salient than that of Maithili. Mithilesh Kumar Jha's thoughtful study shows that the army can be an imaginary one, but no less powerful for that.’
—Sheldon Pollock, Arvind Raghunathan Professor, Sanskrit and South Asian Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA
‘This is an incisive and meticulous work that adds to the growing body of work on language politics, especially in the context of Hindi expansionism and its effort to colonize other vibrant and flourishing linguistic cultures like Maithili. It also tells us a larger story of the uncertain origins of languages and their fluid trajectories—seen for instance in Maithili’s close relationship with Bangla and Ahomiya on the one hand, and Hindi on the other.’
—Aditya Nigam, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, India
‘An important and much needed work on the relationship of modern Hindi to Maithili, a richly literary language that it sought to reduce to “dialect” status in its own aspiration to be recognized as [a] national language. Jha’s detailed and meticulous work on the history of the movement to restore status to Maithili is exemplary, opening the way for further studies on related languages that have suffered similar suppression.’
—Vasudha Dalmia, Professor Emerita, Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, USA

Table of contents

List of Maps, Images, and Tables
Acknowledgements
A Note on the Translation
List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Language Politics in India and the
‘Hindi Heartland’—The Status of Maithili

1. British Rule and Classifications of Indian Languages: Making of Modern Enumerated Communities
2. Language, History, Nation, and the Imaginary of Maithili Identity
3. Maithili Language and the Movement, Part—I
4. Maithili Language and the Movement, Part—II

Conclusion: Language as a Conceptual Category and
Inner Contradictions of the Maithili Movement

Appendix
Select Bibliography
Index
About the Author