Linguistic Landscape of Indian Diaspora
Author Name
Dr. Rajeev Ranjan Rai
Author Address
Designation: Assistant Professor
Department of Migration & Diaspora Studies
Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi vishvavidyalaya, Wardha,
Keywords
Indian Diaspora Ancestral Language Linguistic Landscape Domestic & Public Sphere Socio-Cultural Organization Homeland Connection
Abstract
Indian Diaspora is a complex and diverse phenomena, which is the reflection of immense socio-cultural diversities (and the associated linguistic) within Indian subcontinent carried by the emigrants as part of their socio-cultural baggage. History is full of examples of efforts at making subordinate groups blend into dominant norms and language, and of these groups asserting their identity to counter the socio-cultural hegemony of the dominant group. Such assertions by the Indian diasporic communities may be called the politics of cultural renaissance. The intervention of tradition and revival of culture among the diasporic communities is to be understood in this context. Status of ancestral language experienced attrition and disappeared altogether, or they have survived in extremely limited spheres of life, or they have been modified and retained, or they continue to exist and are in contact with their ancestral roots, or they have been sought to be revived and revitalized with varying degrees of success.
Language is all around us in textual forms. Linguistic Landscape is on one hand the literal study of the languages as they are used in the signs, and on the other hand also the representation of the languages, which is of particular importance because it relates to identity and cultural globalization, in presence of dominant languages and to revitalization of minority languages. There are conscious efforts by various socio-cultural organizations within Indian diaspora for reviving and rejuvenating the linguistic element of their cultural heritage in different part of the world resulting in continuously changing linguistic landscape. The cultural, socio-economic and political circumstances in the cities and the countries in which Indian Diaspora have been settled, are quite divergent. In these locations dynamic nature of linguistic landscape can be easily captured both in private, public spheres and cyberspace.
In the present paper examples from different Indian Diaspora public spheres will be discussed in order to understand linguistic landscape in terms of power relations between dominant and subordinate groups, imprint of identity markers of communities on the linguistic landscape and attractiveness of different languages in to different ethno-cultural audiences.
Conference
International Conference on "Global Migration: Rethinking Skills, Knowledge and Culture"