GGV Prasad
IT started out innocuously enough. Someone at a party, returning from a major literary festival, said that at the literary festivals we hold, we only have English. “We are a multilingual country and we should have multilingual literary festivals,” he said. English does not represent India. More and more voices have been raised to say that English writers and authors should not be the focus of these festivals. The writers, their writings, and the festivals were just elitism. Naturally, everyone was trying to get English in English!
Readers of this column will know that I insist that while no single language alone can represent India, every language spoken in India can and does represent our nation. This may seem contradictory, but every Indian language is spoken in and for India, while no single language can claim to represent the entire country. In short, English represents India. Although the view is that all our literary festivals should be like the comprehensive Bhopal meeting organized by Sahitya Akademi earlier this year, showcasing as many languages as possible, the only condition that must be met is adequate translation/interpretation facilities . This requires investment in infrastructure and generous sponsors, as well as large indoor spaces where there are enough headphones available for people to listen to simultaneous translation. But what language will it be translated into? If you need simultaneous translation into all Indian languages represented at the festival, you will have to use all your resources. This goes beyond most literary festivals at the moment. So, it is right that you have literary festivals in different languages, and that our festivals multiply in languages other than English and also in English. It will continue to hold literary festivals where English is the lingua franca, which also includes other Indian languages.
However, I am always surprised by a certain attitude that tends to preserve English for a dwindling elite, ignoring the fact that the language has long been democratized, appropriated and owned by others in the hierarchy. It is a hierarchy that others want to destabilize and topple. Many writers have expressed this over the years, but others have simply responded by either ignoring the need felt by “ordinary” people for English or by mocking their use of English – taking pictures of signs, recording their speech and making it up. Memes, etc. Some of us see them as poor, misguided people who would be better off in their own languages but have a ridiculous fascination with speaking and writing in English.
Dalit activists and theorists have often spoken and written that English is the language of liberation for them. It is the language of global mobility and breaking through the class barriers that restrict them and limit their potential. Chandra Bhan Prasad went so far as to plan to build a temple to the English Goddess in a small village in UP in 2010. The Goddess would be the God of Dalits as all other gods repel them. English was the language of their liberation, the language of their birth as human beings equal in status to others, and not restricted to professions based on social class. This is in line with Ambedkarite policy. It was Lord Macaulay who made a world of possibilities available to them by introducing English education. Dalits should celebrate Macaulay’s birthday every year, according to Chandra Bhan Prasad.
Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule emphasized comprehensive education in the 19th century. Savitribai wrote poems urging Dalits to learn English. However, even now, we laugh at our people’s aspirations to learn, speak and write the language. We have a history of frustrating political leaders who want to signal to their followers that they can now speak the language of power and international trade, and silencing young people who want to learn and use the language to break their chains (they can never be good enough).
Many of the ideas mentioned above resulted from the award of a major American academic award, the MLA First Book Award, to Akshya Saxena for her book Vernacular English, which examines the use of English in post-colonial India in various fields, mainly for the empowerment of marginalized people. This irony cannot be missed by any of us – 76 years after our independence, the battle for a just and equitable India is being fought in English.
Language has always been a powerful tool for expression and communication, but for many, it is also a source of liberation. Whether it is through the written word, spoken language, or even sign language, people have found freedom and empowerment in using language to articulate their thoughts, emotions, and experiences. From literature to poetry, from speeches to songs, language has the ability to transcend boundaries and break free from constraints, allowing individuals to find liberation in their own unique voices. In this modern age, searching for liberation in language has become even more relevant as individuals seek to reclaim their identities and challenge societal norms. By exploring the ways in which language can be a vehicle for liberation, we can uncover the power and potential that words hold for personal and collective empowerment.