Language, Identity, and Power in Modern India

Riho Isaka is a Professor of the Department of Area Studies at the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the University of Tokyo. Her research interests concern issues of language, politics, food, and identity in colonial and postcolonial India, especially Gujarat.

"The book is based on meticulous archival research into the Gujarat region and its ‘formation’ in the domains of literature, history and geography. As such it unravels the history of the ‘making’ of Gujarat as a region and problematizes the multi-layered identities of the Gujarati people. A work of deep scholarship, it makes an immense contribution to knowledge. Its simple, lucid prose, well delineated themes and sections make it very accessible. The book is remarkably jargon-free and should be accessible to students and the general reader interested in contemporary Indian history." Gyanesh Kudaisya, National University of Singapore"Conceptually the book is brilliant, taking a modern language from its emergence, through its evolution in the hands of some of its most powerful early writers, its contact with outside influences, the ways in which its leading proponents used it and built institutions to promote it, its role in creating a new society, a new state, and a new nation. No other book brings together the many different eras of historical development of Gujarati into a single framework."Howard Spodek, Temple University, USA "While being perceptive to the delicate situations of ‘marginalized’ people, such as women and speakers of Gujarati dialects, the author explores variegated debates on the Gujarati language, through which emerges a larger historical picture of the muddled relationship between India and British Imperialism. This book carefully unravels the ramified historical process in an intelligent and sophisticated style, adding innovative contributions to the studies of Indian history and thus serving as a locus classicus for future scholars in the field." Kazuyoshi Oishi, Kyoyo Gakubuho, No. 638

• Introduction 1. Gujarat Society and its People 2. Educational Institutions and Language 3. The Gujarat Vernacular Society and the Press 4. Debates over Gujarati Language and Literature 5. Nationalism and Language 6 The Formation of Gujarat State Conclusion