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Book Chapter: Linguistics and the intellectual challenge of diversity
Title | Linguistics and the intellectual challenge of diversity |
---|---|
Authors | |
Keywords | linguistics race theory comparativism Aryanism universalism |
Issue Date | 2021 |
Publisher | de Gruyter |
Citation | Linguistics and the intellectual challenge of diversity. In Hofmann, F & Messling, M (Eds.), The Epoch of Universalism 1769–1989, p. 105-123. Berlin ; Boston: de Gruyter, 2021 How to Cite? |
Abstract | The status of modern linguistics within the modern disciplinary order isunclear, as it is neither a recognizable natural science, nor primarily a hermeneu-tic, interpretative discipline. In seeking to understand the intellectual history ofcolonial linguistics and its impacton polities suchas India,this ambiguous statusisacomplicatingfactor,inparticularwhenweconfrontquestionsofuniversalism,cultural difference, and identity politics. The key concept in this history is ‘Aryan’.The intellectual confidence with which nineteenth century comparativismsoughtto map the world’s languages, races, and cultures has largely disappeared, un-der assault from a range of ideological and intellectual opponents. In particu-lar, the racial model of Indian civilization, reflected in Herbert Risley’s readingof a bas-relief at Sanchi, has been completely discredited. Yet colonial linguistics,which had arguably a much greater and more long-lasting impact on India, re-mains largely unchallenged, with the exception of critics associated with Hindufundamentalism. For these critics, the distinctions drawn within colonial linguis-tics led to a schism within Indian society, by conceptualizing a historical dividebetween invading Aryans and indigenous Dravidians. A set of difficult questionsarise from this. On the one hand, the rejection of western science is today linkedto Hindu fundamentalism, and is driven by a xenophobic form of cultural rela-tivism; on the other, linguistics is not a science in any universal sense, and its rolein creating divisions in Indian society has arguably been a highly destructive one |
Persistent Identifier | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/306780 |
ISBN | |
Series/Report no. | Beyond Universalism ; v. 1 |
DC Field | Value | Language |
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dc.contributor.author | Hutton, CM | - |
dc.date.accessioned | 2021-10-22T07:39:30Z | - |
dc.date.available | 2021-10-22T07:39:30Z | - |
dc.date.issued | 2021 | - |
dc.identifier.citation | Linguistics and the intellectual challenge of diversity. In Hofmann, F & Messling, M (Eds.), The Epoch of Universalism 1769–1989, p. 105-123. Berlin ; Boston: de Gruyter, 2021 | - |
dc.identifier.isbn | 9783110691474 | - |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10722/306780 | - |
dc.description.abstract | The status of modern linguistics within the modern disciplinary order isunclear, as it is neither a recognizable natural science, nor primarily a hermeneu-tic, interpretative discipline. In seeking to understand the intellectual history ofcolonial linguistics and its impacton polities suchas India,this ambiguous statusisacomplicatingfactor,inparticularwhenweconfrontquestionsofuniversalism,cultural difference, and identity politics. The key concept in this history is ‘Aryan’.The intellectual confidence with which nineteenth century comparativismsoughtto map the world’s languages, races, and cultures has largely disappeared, un-der assault from a range of ideological and intellectual opponents. In particu-lar, the racial model of Indian civilization, reflected in Herbert Risley’s readingof a bas-relief at Sanchi, has been completely discredited. Yet colonial linguistics,which had arguably a much greater and more long-lasting impact on India, re-mains largely unchallenged, with the exception of critics associated with Hindufundamentalism. For these critics, the distinctions drawn within colonial linguis-tics led to a schism within Indian society, by conceptualizing a historical dividebetween invading Aryans and indigenous Dravidians. A set of difficult questionsarise from this. On the one hand, the rejection of western science is today linkedto Hindu fundamentalism, and is driven by a xenophobic form of cultural rela-tivism; on the other, linguistics is not a science in any universal sense, and its rolein creating divisions in Indian society has arguably been a highly destructive one | - |
dc.language | eng | - |
dc.publisher | de Gruyter | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | The Epoch of Universalism 1769–1989 | - |
dc.relation.ispartof | L’époque de l’universalisme 1769–1989 | - |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | Beyond Universalism ; v. 1 | - |
dc.rights | This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. | - |
dc.subject | linguistics | - |
dc.subject | race theory | - |
dc.subject | comparativism | - |
dc.subject | Aryanism | - |
dc.subject | universalism | - |
dc.title | Linguistics and the intellectual challenge of diversity | - |
dc.type | Book_Chapter | - |
dc.identifier.email | Hutton, CM: chutton@hku.hk | - |
dc.identifier.authority | Hutton, CM=rp01161 | - |
dc.description.nature | published_or_final_version | - |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1515/9783110691504-006 | - |
dc.identifier.scopus | eid_2-s2.0-85109220828 | - |
dc.identifier.hkuros | 329101 | - |
dc.identifier.spage | 105 | - |
dc.identifier.epage | 123 | - |
dc.publisher.place | Berlin ; Boston | - |