Vernacular English: Reading the Anglophone in Postcolonial India

Against a groundswell of critiques of global English, Vernacular English argues that literary studies are yet to confront the true political import of the English language in the world today. A comparative study of three centuries of English literature and media in India, this original and provocative book tells the story of English in India as a tale not of imperial coercion, but of a people's language in a postcolonial democracy.

Focusing on experiences of hearing, touching, remembering, speaking, and seeing English, Akshya Saxena delves into a previously unexplored body of texts from English and Hindi literature, law, film, visual art, and public protests. She reveals little-known debates and practices that have shaped the meanings of English in India and the Anglophone world, including the overlooked history of the legislation of English in India. She also calls attention to how low castes and minority ethnic groups have routinely used this elite language to protest the Indian state.

Challenging prevailing conceptions of English as a vernacular and global lingua franca, Vernacular English does nothing less than reimagine what a language is and the categories used to analyze it.

Author: Akshya Saxena
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 03/01/2022
Pages: 232
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 6.40h x 9.30w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9780691219981
ISBN10: 0691219982
BISAC Categories:
- Language Arts & Disciplines | General
- Literary Criticism | Comparative Literature
- Literary Criticism | Asian | Indic

About the Author
Akshya Saxena is assistant professor of English at Vanderbilt University.