Colonialism, orientalism and the Dravidian languages / K. Venkateswarlu ; [foreword by Thomas R. Trautmann].

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Venkateswarlu, K.

Contributor:

Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Dravidian languages--History--19th century.

Dravidian languages.

Dravidian languages--Grammar, Comparative.

Telugu language--History--19th century.

Telugu language.

Telugu language--Grammar, Comparative.

Sociolinguistics--India--Andhra Pradesh.

Sociolinguistics.

Orientalism--History--19th century.

Orientalism.

History.

India--Andhra Pradesh.

Physical Description:

xiv, 267 pages ; 23 cm

Manufacture:

New Delhi : Avantika Printers.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2012.

Summary:

The Dravidian language family is marked historically by a protracted struggle between Tamil and its supremacy on the one hand, and the consequent peripheralizing of other majoritarian languages of the region on the other. This book looks at the development of Telugu - with its unique grammatical and lexical tradition - as instrumental in the construction of the concept of the Dravidian language family in 1816, and in the development of comparative linguistics since that time.

The author's arguments locate Telugu in multiple matrices of: historical and theoretical Orientalism; the colonial state's interest in native languages; the politics of state patronage; questions of cultural assimilation and divergence; the overbearing presence of Tamil and its literary traditions; and the related inter- and intra-civilizational dialogues. The book thus grapples with the tortured emergence of Telugu - a product of the dynamics of Andhra society, economy, polity and culture influenced and driven by Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Muslim and Western influences - and elaborates on how Telugu contributed to the development of comparative linguistics through the fusion of Indian and European linguistic analyses; more significantly, it underlined a regional base of Indian history and civilization.

With its richly textured narrative, this book will be of interest to those in the fields of history, sociology, socio-linguistics, colonial studies and literature, apart from the generally interested reader. Book jacket.

Contents:

1 The Problem 1

2 Historical Context and Institutional Matrix 21

3 The Dravidian Language Family 56

4 Telugu Grammatical Tradition 119

5 Telugu Language - Site for Formulation of Dravidian Language Family 159

6 Orientalism 188.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 245-261) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Sabin W. Colton, Jr., Memorial Fund.

ISBN:

9780415500791

0415500796

OCLC:

777944088

Publisher Number:

99946499923