scholarly journals Simplifying Sanskrit

Pragmatics ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-513 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Hastings
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
Golden Age ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Literary Discourse ◽  
The South ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The Future ◽  
Popular Language

Sanskrit has long been a medium of scholarly, religious, and literary discourse throughout the South Asian subcontinent. But recently, several organizations, imagining Sanskrit as the future lingua franca and emblem of an ermergent Hindu nation, are attempting to turn Sanskrit into a truly “popular” language by encouraging the use of what they call “simple Sanskrit” in everyday conversational contexts. This essay examines several of the semiotic processes involved in simplifying Sanskrit. Specifically, it discusses first the ways in which simple Sanskrit is regularized in order to produce a language which bears many structural similarities to modern Indian vernaculars. Second, the essay turns to a discussion of what simple Sanskrit represents: Through simplification, Sanskrit becomes an icon for the purported democratizing goals of the spoken Sanskrit movement. Sanskrit also represents a tangible index for aspiring speakers, projecting backward to an archaic Golden Age, but also looking forward to an imagined future. These processes have important implications for understanding the role of language ideologies and their effects in the manufacture and maintenance of linguistic identities.

Peaceful Nuclear Tests, Eco-friendly Reactors, and the Vantage Point of Tamasha

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 204-223
Author(s):  
Fathima Nizaruddin
Keyword(s):  
South Asian ◽  
State Violence ◽  
Vantage Point ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The South ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Nuclear Tests ◽  
Asian Context ◽  
Epistemological Violence

The article analyzes the role of the documentary form in building pronuclear narratives around the Indian nuclear project. It situates the nuclear films made by two state institutions, Films Division of India (Films Division) and Vigyan Prasar, as part of a network of expert statements, documentary assertions, and state violence that bring into being a pronuclear reality. Through the insights gained from my practice-based enquiry, which led to the production and circulation of a film titled Nuclear Hallucinations, I argue that the certainty of the pronouncements of such documentaries can be unsettled by approaching them as a tamasha. I rely on the multiple connotations of the word tamasha in the South Asian context and its ability to turn solemn assertions into a matter of entertainment or a joke. This vantage point of tamasha vis-à-vis the Indian nuclear project builds upon the strategies of antinuclear documentaries that resist the epistemological violence of pronuclear assertions. In this article, I explore the role of comic modes and irony in forming sites of tamasha to create trouble within the narratives that position nonviolent antinuclear protestors as “antinational” elements. The article also expands on how the point of view of tamasha can engender new solidarities, which can resist the violence of the Indian nuclear project by forming new configurations of possibilities.

scholarly journals An Overview of Future Scenarios: Where Are We Going With English?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ersilia Incelli
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
English Language ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
Lingua Franca ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future

This contribution aims to present an overview of future predictions about the evolution and status of the English language, in particular as a global lingua franca. The paper considers recent events such as Brexit and the emergence of new economic powers, and the fact that other widely spoken languages could compete with the hegemonic longevity of English as a lingua franca. Although English will certainly remain globally dominant for a large part of the 21st century, new geopolitical landscapes may influence the role of English both in Europe and in the world. This overview is not exhaustive in reporting all the variables in the debate, but it wishes to examine the main issues of concern in the future standing of English. 

scholarly journals Greening the Judiciary

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 71
Author(s):  
M Kidd
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Correct Interpretation ◽  
The South ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Law

This note considers the performance of the South African courts in deciding environmental cases and suggests that, notwithstanding some good decisions, there are still too many decisions where the courts are not applying relevant legislative provisions or misinterpreting the law. It is suggested that the future acceptable performance of the courts not only rests on correct interpretation and application of the legislation, but also increased familiarity by judges with the technical environmental context within which the cases are situated. The role of legal practitioners in achieving this is also highlighted.

Arabic as a Language of the South Asian Chancery: Bahmani Communications to the Mamluk Sultanate

Arabica ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-435
Author(s):  
Meia Walravens
Keyword(s):  
Indian Ocean ◽  
Fifteenth Century ◽  
Red Sea ◽  
South Asian ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
The South ◽  
Growing Body ◽  
The Indian Ocean

Abstract A growing body of literature on trade and cultural exchange between the Indian Ocean regions has already contributed significantly to our understanding of these processes and the role of language and writing within them. Yet, the question remains how Arabic correspondence played a part in communications between South Asian powers and the rulers in the Red Sea region. In order to begin filling this lacuna, this article studies epistolary writings from the Bahmani Sultanate (748/1347-934/1528) to the Mamluk Sultanate (648/1250-922/1517) during the second half of the ninth/fifteenth century. The contextualisation and discussion of three letters render insight both into the (up to now unstudied) issues at play in Bahmani-Mamluk relations and into the nature of these Arabic texts.

State and church interaction in the frontier conditions on the south of Russia in 16th – 17th centuries

2019 ◽  
pp. 209-219
Author(s):  
Andrey Papkov
Keyword(s):  
Formation Process ◽  
Network Formation ◽  
The State ◽  
The South ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
The Future ◽  
Frontier Zone ◽  
State Territory

We consider the process of Russia state territory expansion in the southern direction, which took place in the 16th – 17th centuries. We analyze the network formation process of orthodox churches and monasteries in the frontier zone – on the southern outskirts of Russia. We made an attempt to determine the role of the state in this process. It is concluded that the state provided the construction of the necessary number of churches and monasteries, as well as allocated funds to ensure their activities in the future.

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