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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 Volume 29
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 Volume 29 Paperback - 1997 - 1st Edition

by Sumathi Ramaswamy

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Reader reviews for Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 Volume 29

From the publisher

Why would love for their language lead several men in southern India to burn themselves alive in its name? Passions of the Tongue analyzes the discourses of love, labor, and life that transformed Tamil into an object of such passionate attachment, producing in the process one of modern India's most intense movements for linguistic revival and separatism.

Sumathi Ramaswamy suggests that these discourses cannot be contained within a singular metanarrative of linguistic nationalism and instead proposes a new analytic, "language devotion." She uses this concept to track the many ways in which Tamil was imagined by its speakers and connects these multiple imaginings to their experience of colonial and post-colonial modernity. Focusing in particular on the transformation of the language into a goddess, mother, and maiden, Ramaswamy explores the pious, filial, and erotic aspects of Tamil devotion. She considers why, as its speakers sought political and social empowerment, metaphors of motherhood eventually came to dominate representations of the language.

From the rear cover

"An important and original book providing a completely new perspective on the intellectual and cultural history of southern India. . . . Sumathi Ramaswamy has both produced a major work of comparative history and made the finest scholarly contribution to the intellectual and cultural history of modern Tamil Nadu to date."--Nicholas B. Dirks, author of The Hollow Crown

"The most thorough account of the history of the symbolic profusion of a language--any language--I have ever read . . . The scholarship is extraordinary, and Ramaswamy is quite likely the most knowledgeable on this subject in the whole of India--nay, the world."--E. Valentine Daniel, author of Charred Lullabies: Chapters in an Anthropography of Violence

Details

  • Title Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 Volume 29
  • Author Sumathi Ramaswamy
  • Binding Paperback
  • Edition number 1st
  • Edition 1
  • Pages 343
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of California Press, Ewing, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Publication date 1997-11-20
  • Features Bibliography, Index
  • ISBN 9780520208056 / 0520208056
  • Weight 1.06 lbs (0.48 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.95 x 6.01 x 0.85 in (22.73 x 15.27 x 2.16 cm)
  • Themes
    • Cultural Region: Asian - General
    • Cultural Region: Indian
  • Category Language Arts / Linguistics / Literacy
  • Library of Congress subjects Critical pedagogy - United States, Language and languages - Study and teaching
  • Library of Congress Catalogue Number 96052441
  • Dewey Decimal Code 494.811

About the author

Sumathi Ramaswamy is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania.

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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 (Studies on the History of...
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 (Studies on the History of Society and Culture) (Volume 29)

by Ramaswamy, Sumathi

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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891 1970

Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891 1970

by Sumathi Ramaswamy

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Paperback / softback. New. Why would love for their language lead several men in southern India to burn themselves alive in its name? This title analyzes the discourses of love, labor, and life that transformed Tamil into an object of such passionate attachment, producing in the process one of modern India's most intense movements for linguistic revival and separatism.
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Passions of the Tongue

Passions of the Tongue

by Sumathi Ramaswamy

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Paperback / softback. New. New Book; Fast Shipping from UK; Not signed; Not First Edition; Why would love for their language lead several men in southern India to burn themselves alive in its name? This title analyzes the discourses of love, labor, and life that transformed Tamil into an object of such passionate attachment,
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891?1970 (Studies on the History of...
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891?1970 (Studies on the History of Society and Culture) (Volume 29)

by Ramaswamy, Sumathi

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Passions of the Tongue – Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891 – 1970 (Paper)
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Passions of the Tongue – Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891 – 1970 (Paper)

by Ramaswamy, Sumathi

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Univ of California Pr on Demand, 1997. Paperback. New. 1st edition. 343 pages. 9.00x6.00x0.75 inches.
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 (Studies on the History of...
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970 (Studies on the History of Society and Culture) (Volume 29)

by Ramaswamy, Sumathi

  • New
  • Paperback
  • first
Condition
New
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First Edition
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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520208056 / 0520208056
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Description:
University of California Press, 1997-11-20. First Edition. paperback. New. 6.01x0.85x8.95. Buy with confidence. Excellent Customer Service & Return policy.
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Item price
A$75.11
Free Delivery to USA
Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 (Volume 29)...
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Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891–1970 (Volume 29) (Studies on the History of Society and Culture)

by Ramaswamy, Sumathi

  • New
  • Paperback
Condition
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Paperback
ISBN 10 / ISBN 13
9780520208056 / 0520208056
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University of California Press, 1997-11-20. Paperback. New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title!
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A$134.36
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