The sexual life of English : languages of caste and desire in colonial India / Shefali Chandra.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chandra, Shefali, 1973-

Series:

Next wave.

Next wave : new directions in women's studies

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Social aspects--India.

English language.

English language--India--History.

Women--Education--India--History.

Women.

English language--Study and teaching--India--History.

Language and sex--India.

Language and sex.

India--Languages--Social aspects.

India.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2012.

Summary:

Chandra explores how English became an Indian language during the colonial period of 1850-1930. Using archival and literary sources, she focuses on elite language education for girls and women.

Contents:

Learning gender, knowing English : an introduction

"The prudent and cautious engrafting of English upon our female population" : pedagogy and performativity

The language of the bedroom : mimicry, masculinity and the sexual power of English

"A new generation of hipless and breastless women is coming to the forefront in Europe and America" : literature, social class and the wider world of English

"I shall read pretty English stories to my mother and translate them into Marathi for her..." : widowhood, virtue and the secularization of caste

"I began to wonder why I had ever begun to learn English" : desire, labor and the trans-regional orientation of caste

The first Indian woman to taste "the sweets of an English education" : Dosebai Jessawalla and the "march of advancement in the face of obloquy"

Epilogue : "I am an Indian. I have no language" : Parvatibai Athavale and the limits to English.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786613721051

9780822395294

0822395290

9781280879746

1280879742

OCLC:

787874479