Theory of Knowledge - Course Companion for Students Marija Uzunova Dang Arvin Singh Uzunov Dang

sn th dominan of English in
Having
shools and itis, you may also
intrnational
notid how this affts th tasts and norms
hav
musi, art and soial lif. Whil th gloal
of
and rah of English is undnial, so is
sop
olonial natur. Considr th pom y Shailja
its
low. To what xtnt is th dominan of
Patl
that sh dsris dlining ovr tim?
English
Listn:
fathr spaks Urdu,
my
of daning paoks,
languag
fountains –
roswatr
its urss ar autiful.
vn
spaks Hindi,
H
and mlodi,
suav
Punjai,
arthy
as saag panr,
salty-rih
Swahili lad with Arai.
oastal
spaks Gujarati,
H
anstral prid.
solid
languags,
Fiv
diffrnt worlds.
fiv
English Yt
shrinks
him
down
th languags spokn in diffrnt
Considring
of th world, and y whom, an provid
parts
with lus aout how popl partiipatd in
us
olonial nountr. Hr w fous on English,
th
thr may othr loal xampls that ar as
ut
to onsidr with rgard to th rol of
intrsting
in th olonial projt. Many languags
languag
tras of thir past and lus aout how
arry
wr afftd y th military and onomi
thy
of mpirs.
powr
of British India, for xampl, ontinu
Tras
hard today in th adn of Indian
to
Thr is also “Hinglish”—spokn oth
English.
th Indian diaspora and English-spakrs
y
India—a form of od-swithing twn
within
English and Hindi words in th span of a
using
Sin it rquirs a lvl of omptn
sntn.
oth languags, Hinglish an simultanously
in
a way to rlaim th olonists’ languag as an
tongu of indpndnt India, as wll as to
offiial
an immigrant idntity in English-spaking
assrt
In Hinglish it is not words suh as
ontxts.
“jungl”, “vranda”, “ungalow”,
“dinghy”,
or “pyjamas” that w ar listning
“shampoo”
Ths ntrd th English languag
for.
muh arlir. Thir story—and that
mainstram
othr words that did not quit stik—is told
of
th 1886 Hobson-Jobson, a glossary providing
in
window into British India through th us of
a
What w ar listning for, rathr, is
languag.
way of spaking English, ld y spakrs
anothr
Hindi in diffrnt ontxts around th world,
of
an assrtion of idntity, solidarity and ultural
in
gatkping.
Vitorians on th suontinnt wr
Whil
with xitmnt th nuans of loal
xploring
ntring English, thousands of hildrn in
words
ountris around th world had thir
olonizd
washd with soap for using thir nativ
mouths
in shools. Th mpir’s languag,
languags
through shooling, was on of th
imposd
of olonization. And so onsquntly,
wapons
many post-olonial ontxts, languag
in
and ontinus to a sit of struggl
am
liration and dolonization. Howvr,
for
is not as simpl as dfying th olonizr’s
it
Following indpndn many
languag.
inluding India, ontinud to nfor
nations,
tahing of an offiial “mothr tongu” in th
th
projt, displaing Indignous
nation-uilding
II. Perspectives
II. Perspectives
II.3 Language and colonization
Hobson-Jobson
Compiled over 14 years by two polymaths and
language enthusiasts who served with the East India
Company, Hobson-Jobson is part-dictionary, partjournal.
Fascinating for its representations, as well
as its telling omissions, Hobson-Jobson betrays the
sometimes simultaneously confused, curious and
condescending attitudes of colonists.
for whit mn
Takn from Migritude (Patl 2010)
99