Book Review: An Update on AIT (Part 1)

[Dominik Wujastyk]

On Mon, 30 Aug 1999, Sudalaimuthu Palaniappan wrote:

> Note the following quote from Sumathi Ramaswami's "Passions of the Tongue:
> Language Devotion in Tamil India, 1891-1970" published by University of
> California Press in 1997.


I haven't read Ramaswami's book, so what I say may be mistaken, but what
surprises me from the quotation offered is the narrow focus on political
and hegemonic power relations and the exclusion of any mention of
missionary zeal.  Surely Caldwell ("Bishop Caldwell") and most other early
language-workers were motivated not primarily by the desire to rule, but
by the desire to bring their vision of Christian Truth to the population
of India.  This is also clearly a deeply problematic programme, but surely
a much more interesting and one.

--
Dominik Wujastyk
Founder, INDOLOGY list