The Master’s Language and Its Indian Uses
In: The Politics of English as a World LanguageSearch for other papers by Premila Paul in
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Abstract
Most contemporary educated Indians have absorbed English from their early schooling onward, and have internalized it with ease. However, there are some who have also internalized the history behind the use of English. Some politically motivated Indians have made a forced attempt to find Indian equivalents to replace the internalized English vocabulary – a parochial exercise which, arguably, disrupts communication and may result in comical effects. Contemporary Indian English fiction flourishes in this sociopolitical context. In some writers we see a deliberate attempt to revive and sustain the old colonial relationship with English. Other writers refuse to be controlled by such a memory. But both kinds of Indian writers are aware that English has come to stay. I intend to show how these two kinds of relationship with English condition and control Indian fiction writers, using for illustration selected novels of the pre-Independence 1930s and from the recent 1990s.