INVITED SPEAKERS

Ideology, Authority, and Language Choice: Language of Religion in South Asia

Rajeshwari V. Pandharipande

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

In the multilingual and multireligious South Asia, many religions (the indigenous religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism and the extraneous religions, Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, and various tribal religious systems) currently co-exist along with languages of diverse language families such as Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and Munda. One of the most striking features of the language of religion in this region is that there is no fixed equation of one linguistic form for one religion. Many languages are used to express one religion and one language is used to express many religions. Moreover, the patterns of language choice within and across religions vary in time and space. I examine the complex and dynamic relationship between languages and religions in South Asia in the context of the hitherto ignored questions of theoretical and empirical significance: (a) what are the determinants of the variation in the patterns of language choice in different religions? (b) why do the patterns of language choice change across time? (c) which authority legitimizes and implements the choice? (e) does the authority remain constant across time and space or does it undergo change? (f) when a new religious code is introduced to carry out the function of the earlier religious code, what happens to the earlier code? do they coexist? and (g) when one religious code is replaced by another, does the structure of the linguistic code undergo change?

I examine the patterns of variation in the choice of languages across religions in the context of the interface of language, religion and society in South Asia at different points in time (including present). I argue that (a) the language choice is determined by the ideology about the form, content and function of the religious language, (b) the ideology and the language choice are legitimized by the “authority” which implements the ideology by designating particular languages for religions, (c) ideology, and authority vary across religions and through different periods of time, and operate as mechanisms, which conventionalize as well as change the structure and function of religious languages, and (e) the discussion is relevant for non-religious language in particular, and the theory of language in general.

I further argue for the need to re-examine the definition and scope of the categories, “linguistic convergence”, “diglossia”, and “ideology” to adequately explain the above situation in South Asia.