The Vernacular

This book examines the validity of the notion of the vernacular and the position of the so-called vernaculars in colonial and postcolonial settings. It addresses recent formulations and debates regarding the status of regional languages of South Asia in relation to English. The authors explore the range of meanings the term has assumed and trace a history of contestation since the colonial age. They contend that though the vernacular in South Asia has, since the nineteenth century, often operated as a hegemonic category relegating the languages thus designated to an inferior status, those languages (and other cultural formations labelled as vernacular) have also received empowering impulses and vested with qualities like groundedness and strength. The book highlights the need for a critical discussion of the notion of the vernacular in the context of the ongoing rise of Anglophonia in South Asia as a whole and post-liberalisation India in particular. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of literary and culture studies, history, postcolonial studies, and South Asian studies.