LANGUAGE IN INDIA

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Volume 23:5 May 2023
ISSN 1930-2940

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         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
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Identity Negotiation Among Minorities:
Case of the Nepali Community and Their Linguistic Landscape in Darjeeling

Birendra Bhujel, PhD Research Scholar and
Dr. Sweta Sinha, Assistant Professor

Abstract

Linguistic landscape (LL) is a display of written language in public spaces. Observation of existing research in LL reflects the minimum manifestation of the study of the interplay between LL and ethnic identity negotiation. Whereas in the Indian context, the realization of identity negotiation instrumentalizing LL of a geographical location is yet to be empirically mapped. In this context, Darjeeling, a multilingual and multicultural district as well as a tourist hotspot becomes a potential site for exploration of identity negotiation from the perspective of LL. The present paper tries to reconceptualize LL while reemphasizing the sociocultural significance of written language. Moreover, the paper empirically examines the part of LL as a linguistic tool in the process of identity negotiation among the Nepali speech community in Darjeeling.

Keywords: Identity, linguistic landscape, Darjeeling, Nepali community, negotiation

Introduction

We are surrounded by languages of different types where written language has become one among several tools for conveying some substances to those who can read it. It impacts the thought process of the patron. For instance, when a passer-by sees a poster written danger in front of a building it creates certain inner hesitation in the person who wants to go inside the building. The poster about no smoking in petrol pumps suggests us some kind of warning. A glimpse of the nameplate on the door while entering the room creates an unequivocal impression on the interlocutor. Language (written) not only influences cognitively but also holds domination in every society having a (written) tradition of language. It is to be mentioned that according to Shohamy and Gorter (2009), today language (written) has become an integral part of our physical environment. In this context, linguistic landscape (LL, henceforth) is the visual display of written language in public spaces.

The concept of LL has a brief history while having a long past.

According to Landry and Bourhis (1997), one can trace the notion of LL first in the language planning of Belgium and Quebec. As a result, one can claim that the origin of the concept of LL is trussed in the Belgian case (Landry & Bourhis, 1997). Therefore, it is not an entirely new field of study at least outside India. Interestingly, few academicians produced sociolinguistic studies of language choice in multilingual contexts in the late 1970s (Blackwood et al., 2016, p.xvi).

Studies on the use of multilingualism and global English in advertising came to light in decades of the 1980s and 1990s (Troyer, 2016). Later on in the early 2000s, this emerging field of study was starting to consolidate around the term Linguistic Landscape (Blackwood et al., 2016). It must be stated that the publication of the book Linguistic Landscape: A New Approach to Multilingualism (2006) by Druk Gorter laid a stronger groundwork for LL studies.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Birendra Bhujel, PhD Research Scholar
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihta, Bihar 801106
Email: birendrabhujel@gmail.com

Dr. Sweta Sinha, Assistant Professor
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihta, Bihar 801106
Email: sweta@iitp.ac.in
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