Aut Aut Research Journal ISSN NO: 0005-0601

Title: Decolonizing the Language: A Study of Decolonization of in the Last Forty Years.

Submitted by,

Paharee Konwar

MA in English

[email protected]

Abstract

Language is a mode of communication that connects people but at times it becomes a barrier where it is used by people to dominate other people. The postcolonial studies look at language as a form of colonizing tool which helps the colonizers to control the minds of the colonized. The aim of this paper is to look at language as a colonizing tool with the help of Ngugi wa Thiong‟o, concept of decolonizing mind introduced in the book Decolonizing the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature. The British East India Company ruled different parts of and there were many changes that had taken place in the land that is recorded in history. The paper tries to look at how the Bangla language was used by the British to colonize the people of Assam looking at the history of Assamese language. The paper also tries to look at the change in language varieties of Assamese as reflected in the Assamese novels in the last forty years and how the decolonization of the Assamese language done by the writers writing in last few decades. The texts chosen for the examination are- Patal Bhairabi (1986) by Lakhminandan Bora, Naang-Faa (2010) by Juri Borah Borgohain and Hriday Ekhan Mahakabya (2012) written by Kishore Manjit Bora.

Keywords: alienation, culture bomb, decolonization, dominance, language variety.

Colonization, according to Oxford English Dictionary refers to the action or process of settling among and establishes control over the indigenous people of an area. And it describes decolonization as an action or process of a state withdrawing from the former colony or leaving it independent. Ngugi Wa Thiong‟o, Kenyan author, discusses about how the colonizers colonize

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the indigenous people through language. He wrote a book called Decolonizing the Mind: the Politics of Language in African Literature (1986) where he discusses how cultural bomb effect in annihilating people‟s belief in their names, their language, in their environment, in their heritage of struggle, in their unity, in their capacities and also in themselves. He says cultural bomb is a powerful weapon used by the colonizers against people‟s collective defiance. According to him, language carries two function- means of communication and a carrier of culture. It mediates people‟s relationship with themselves and others. And while colonial power succeeded in dominating people‟s lives, by dominating the language they also tried to dominate mental state of the colonized. Ngugi himself experienced this process while growing in Kenya where they were forced to speak English instead of his mother tongue, Gikhyu. This imposed foreign language creates a state of colonial alienation because there is a disassociation between the natural and social environment and the written world. (Thiong‟o 10-20)

There are many critics who talk about decolonizing the language. Chinua Achebe argues that one can stop using English language. He also argues that using European language allow both for communication across different African languages and enables writers to reach Western audiences. And he suggest to Africanize European languages so that it carries and advance the African experience. Whereas Ngugi wa Thing‟o disagrees with this claim and says that using the language of Europe creates a state of alienation from Africa. According to him, writers should return to their native languages rather than express themselves in European languages. He also argues that true colonization extends beyond the removal of physical objects of oppression, such as cannons. It is a return to and advancement of one‟s own identity shaped through language. The same ideology was shared by few intellectuals during the colonial era in Assam.

Colonial Assam (1826-1947) refers to the period of Assam History between the signing of the Treaty of Yandabo and Independence of India when Assam was under the British Colonial rule. But beginning of the era of Colonial Assam started in the year 1824 when lower regions of Assam came under the control of British Empire. In 1825 again, the upper regions of Assam became the ruling ground of British Kingdom and in the subsequent years, the entire land Assam was covered by the British rule. Assam was included as a part of the Bengal Presidency from 1826 to 1873.

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The 37 years long period from 1836 to 1873 is called the Dark Age of . In 1836, British made Bengali the official language of Assam. The colonial rulers took the decision without considering the views of local people. Introduction of Bengali languages created social, economical and political implications on the lives of Assam. The Assamese language in printed text was made available by the Christian Missionaries by the introduction of the journal “Orunodai” (1846) and the prime reason for publication of the journal was the propagation of Christianity but it also helped the reestablishing the Assamese language in Assam as the language was neglected in its own land. Therefore some of the Assamese youths of that time along with the missionaries made a revolution to reestablish the Assamese language. As a result of their strong revolution Assamese language got the status of official language in 1873. Local intellectuals like Ananda Ram Dhekial Phukan wrote A Few Remarks on the Assamese Language on Vernacular Education in Assam (1855) and worked together with the Missionaries. “Orunodoi” established the prose. The missionaries used simple and only the external form of Assamese language in their writings and their style was very close to English. Even the writings of Ananda Ram Dhekial Phukan in some places the influence of English language was reflected. “Orunodoi” formed the base of modern Assamese Literature. It inspired the development of modern Assamese Literature and brought it dynamic state and to a larger world of literature.

Though Orunodoi established the base of modern Assamese literature, the Assamse language was still neglected by few people. Therefore the need of development of Assamese literature and language and the nationalistic side of the intellectuals of Assam started a committee called “Axomia Bhaxar Unnati Xadhini Xabha” (1888) whose aim was to promote the language among the literate section of the Assamese society and create a sense of nationalism among people through language. Therefore as the initiative taken by the committee led to the publication of the literary journal “Jonaki”, with the editorship of Chandra Kumar Agarwala ,which was published in 1889 from Kolkata and writers like , Chandrakmar Agarwala and Lakhminath Bezbarua. Where they tried to borrow from different genres of English literature like- poetry, sonnets, novels etc. and also got influenced by their style. They translated important books from Sanskrit and other languages to Assamese, to create reading habit in all class of people and also to introduce pure form of grammar and orthography

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and to one standard written language all through the areas of Assam. It was later led by later journals like “Banhi”, “Chetana”, “Awahan” etc.

As stated earlier the colonizing process in Assam was done by the British by imposing Bengali language as the official language in Assam, which was later opposed by people in Assam. The pioneers of “Jonaki” aimed at popularizing a standard written form of the language. They popularized the variety spoken in the Shivsagar area of Assam which is also known as Eastern Assamese. This can be seen as a form of decolonization of language by the writers using their own language. Intellectuals like Lakhminath Bezbarua focused on the variety of Assamese which has a tint of village life with few playful elements whereas Padmanath Gohain Baruah wrote a peculiar language with more ornamentations and also serious in manner. This form of language was used for a very long time and later few writers felt alienated because of the difference existed between spoken variety of language and the standardized written text. Therefore writers like Mamoni Roisom Goswami introduced the Kamrupi variety of Assamese in her works and also people like Soiyad Abdul Malik challenged the earlier standardized form of Assamese. These writers used the already established form of Assamese but they used few elements specific to cultures like Soiyad Abdul Malik used words and phrases of the Assamese- Muslim people along with the earlier existed written variety of Assamese covering the larger part. Similarly present day writers at times challenges the standardized form of Assamese by using the hybridized form of Assamese language by adding words and phrases from other languages.

Writers of the Jonaki period if seen critically, tried to use one form of language which is uniform. This in a sense can be considered as colonization of Assamese language as it serves the purpose of their ideology and it was one variety of Assamese which is spoken by a group of people but not as a whole. This led to the conflict between the educated sections of Assam and they often questioned the one standard variety used by Bezbarua and his followers. Also the people who were in support of Kamrupi variety of Assamese tried to protest by writing texts which has elements which are suitable for people living in Western parts of Assam. The conflict between the writers is still prevalent and writers with their own interest use a form of written text which seems more comfortable for them. This can be seen as decolonization of the standard

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variety by using a different form of the same language. It can be discussed in the texts chosen and a change in the language can be seen in the writings of these writers

Patal Bhairabi (1986):

Patal Bhairabi (1986) is a novel written by Dr. Lakhminandan Bora. The novel based on the areas ranging from few major towns of Assam like Dibrugarh to Digboi to . The protagonist of the novel is Mukunda Khaund, and it shows his life from being a caretaker to a drug dealer and the other instances of his life. The novel is based on the narration of two boat- men, Deuta and Nanka. Later in the novel it is seen that the real name of the character Deuta is Mukta Rahman and Wasir or Nanka whose full name is Wasir Yusuf. The novel is narrated by both an omniscient narrator and narrated from the perspective of Mukund. Most of the narrative is told from the perspective of the protagonist, Mukund himself. The novel is categorized as a social novel and it addresses issues like the huge racket of the Opium smugglers that were quite prominent during the British rule in Assam which continued even after independence. The novel is based on the real event where opium was smuggled to different places of India and how many people were associated with it. The story is based on the statements given by Deuta and Nanka as noted by the novelist himself. The language used in the novel is the colloquial Assamese language spoken by the people of Dibrugarh and Shivsagar districts of Assam. The characters are given the speech variety spoken by the people from “upper-Assam” also commonly known as “ujoni axom”. The novel is comprised of multiple characters belonging to different communities like Muslim, tea tribe, and many non-Assamese communities.

The novelist here used the colloquial Assamese language spoken by the villagers of Dibrugarh and its neighboring areas. The novelist has given the characters the speech used by the language variety spoken by the people of “upper Assam” which was prominent in the 1980s. There are many characters who are “Assamese Muslims” as noted in the Writer‟s note, and the author has also mentioned that most of them are well versed in the local Assamese language. For example when Mukunda talks to his wife or others his speech has typical Eastern Assamese style as he speaks to Guna, one of his comrades-

Moi agotei koisu, mur kotha etat khukuja lagi ase. Deutaihe tar homidhan dibo paribo. Deutar usoroloi jaboi

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lagibo. Nohole eai ga pir-pirua batarotu mon guma hoie thakibo” (I have told your earlier that I am having doubts about something and only Deuta can solve it. I must go to Deuta or my mind will be disturbed even in this beautiful weather. (Bora 91)

Again when Monica while trying to console Mukunda in his confused state of mind she recites a sloka from Bhagwat Gita – “Kloiwang masma gamah parth noitat twajyupadyate./Khudrang hriday-dourbalyang tyotyuktistha parantap.” And explains it as “-koise je jiwanar jujkhanat xakalu durbalata neusibo lage. Kapurukhali eri bir purukh hobo lage.” (One has to avoid all weaknesses in the battle for life and should become brave avoiding cowardliness). (Bora 219)

Again in one instance Mukunda asks Jugnu, a worker originated from Bihar talks-

-Kamtu kori bhal lagene?(Do you like doing this job?)

-Abhabi manuhe kam-kaj bhal lagisene bea lagise bhabibo nuare. Amar dore manuhe man nagaleu kisuman kam karibo lage. (Poor people cannot think whether they like the job or not. People like us have to do things even if we do not like doing it.)

-Kamtu bhal lagene nelage? Safkoi kole khyati ki? (You like the job or not? There will be no loss in telling the truth.) -Lage. Dhunia dhunia thai dekha pau. Khub val khaboiloi pau. Khushi mate dui hatere kharas karibo paru. (Yes. I get to see beautiful places and also get to eat well. And also can spend as much money as I want.) (Bora 50)

The use few Hindi terms is seen in the dialogues between the characters. Jugnu at first seen using the standardized form of Assamese but the novelist here gives Mukunda a speech which may get comfortable for Jugnu by adding words like saf (clearely).

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The Muslim community has their own dialectical preference, with their own kinship, custom, and religious terms, with those in East Assam having distinct phonetic features. In this novel the Muslim characters like Deuta talks to Mukunda in a variety of Assamese mixed with terms from Urdu language. For example, he says to Mukund,while discussing about the name of Mukunda‟s younger son, “Pise eai namtut bhul ase. Ear arthai nai. Eai nam di tohotor hendu hastrak phajlami kora hoise. Tur tirutar nam Jashua, othas lorar nam Sanur, mane Kankhai puha mal. Ish ish bor bea katha hoise.” (But this name has some problem. It does not have any meaning. Your wife‟s name is Jashua, but your son‟s name is Sanur, means one organism raised by Kankha. It is not good.) (Bora, 30) Similarly in one instance Wasir says to Jashua,to console her, “Amar ki nai buli bhabo Jashua? Family-semily nai. Kintu dil ase.” (What do you think we do not have? We may not have any family. But we have heart.) (Bora 35)

Dil Bahadur and Himadri are from Nepali community and works in the tea garden. Their dialogues are very much similar to that of Mukunda. In chapter 2, Himadri talks to Mukunda where her husband Dil Bahadur is drunk and having some hardships regarding his occupation. She says, “Hei dukh muru. Heibuli serap khai behus hole hobone?”(I am also sad but that does not mean one has to drink and become senseless.) (Bora 17). It is seen that the writer has used colloquial language that is spoken by villagers in Eastern part of Assam. The novelist has used some slangs that were prominent at the time of the plot and is trying to move from what Bezbarua did in his writings. But he is not using the Kamrupi Assamese variety but moving slightly away from Bezbaarua‟s style of writing. One flaw that can be marked in case of Lakhminandan Bora is that he has used a universalized form of Assamese for all the characters in the novel, but used some variations like including phrases of Jikir (religious songs sung by Muslim people) which are sung mostly by Deuta who is a worker from Muslim community. The inclusion of Urdu, Hindi and English are done in minimal amount in the novel.

Naang-Faa (2010):

Naang-Faa (2010) is a history based novel written by Juri Borah Borgohain. The term Naangfaa means princess in Tai language. The novel is based on the life of Jaymati Kunwari, wife of the Ahom king Gadadhar Singha. There was a time when the golden age of the Ahom kingdom got stained by a darker phase where there was an internal conflict going on in the palace and there were many kings got killed in the power politics. Sati Jaymati is believed to be

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one of the victims of this dark phase of Ahom kingdom where she was punished to death by the ministers in power and the king himself for not giving any information of her husband commonly known as Gadapaani. Her name is recorded in the history but she is mostly famous as a legend in the folk culture of Assam. She is famous for the sacrifice she had done for the state and also her loyalty towards her husband. In the history of Assamese literature, there are also other writings like plays based on Joymoti Konwari written by prominent Assamese writers like Lakhminath Bezbarua, Padmanath Gohain and Jyotiprasad Agarwala. There are also historiographers like Lila Gogoi and Benudhar Sharma have written notes on the history of Assam and while talking about Ahom history they mentioned about Jaymati Kunwari. The novelist here is trying to write the story of Jaymati with the facts that are there in the folk tales and the controversies going on about the existence of Jaymati as one prominent figures of Ahom history. The novelist here has done a thorough research about the facts recorded in history and as well as interviewed people who hold knowledge about the history of Ahom kingdom.

As stated earlier, the novel focuses about the life of Jaymati Kunwari and follows the pattern of a bildungsroman novel and covers the life of Jaymati from being a teenager to the wife of a prince who faces cruel punishment for her husband and dies. The novelist here unlike most of the prominent writers like Padmanath Gohain Barua and Lakhminath Bezbarua tries to portray the perspective of Jaymati as a witness to the social change and also her growth as a potential queen.

The language used in the novel follows the standardized script of Assamese language which usually brings the question of „Standard‟ Assamese language but follows the pattern of the dialect of Shivsagar and its neighboring areas. The setting of the novel is based on the thirteenth century Ahom kingdom and the language used in the novel is rather simplified. The novelist has used of few Tai words to give it a flavor of a language spoken in a Tai family but apart from that most of the phrases and words used in the book are mostly Assamese. There are various rituals done by the Ahoms are described in the whole novel. For example, In Jaymati‟s mother-in-law talks about Ahom history, she says to Jaymati,

Muku mur mesaue eaibur katha Gadapani aru tar bayek garbhat thakute koisil. Plau, eaikhini katha toi eai karane manat rakhibo lagibo je amar ahamar karane bankha

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kathan bor danger katha. Ji ahame nijor bankhar adimtam purukhjanar katha kobo nuare teu prakit ahomai nahai… (My mother-in-law told me this when Gadapani and his sister were in my womb. Plau, you need to remember this because for all Ahoms, our legacy is a huge thing. The Ahom who cannot speak about his own legacy is not a real Ahom…) (Borgohain 124)

Here in the statement the novelist has used few Tai words like Plau (daughter-in-law), Mesau (mother-in-law), Aham (Ahom) etc. to give the text an element of history and culture of the Ahoms.

The language used in the novel is the language used by people in the village areas of present day Assam. For example, she has used typical language spoken by the villages in Shivsagar to describe the different events in the novel. When Jaymati was tortured after the exile of Gadapani, few villagers come and say, “Dekhot saufadeu thakutei Gadakonwaror Konwarir eai abastha, eai goti. Eai dekh dekh hoi thoka nai. Onyai obisarat leti loi saufadeue nijei dhwankha mati anise.” (If Gadakonwar‟s wife is suffering, in the presence of the king himself, then this kingdom is not a kingdom anymore.) (Borgohain 279)

There are also various Naga characters introduced in the novel. The Naga kings and other people from the community are introduced here. There are elements of Nagamese (mixture of Naga and Assamese language) is seen in the dialogues of the characters. For example, when Gadapani approaches the king of the Naga kingdom, he accepts Gadapani in his court and also allows him to stay in their community. He says, “Thik ase toi thak. Tuk ami rakhisu. Kintu sabi jate tur pora amar bipad nahai.” (OK, you can stay. We are allowing you to stay. But make sure that there will be no problem because of you.) (Borgohain 319) There are also terms like Aang (Naga term for king), Apangsam (Naga term for palace), Tangkhu (Naga term for houses where soldiers live), name of cultural attires are used to refer to the cultures of Naga community. She has also used references in books of other writers who have done research on the subject.

It is seen that the novelist here is trying to move away from the earlier writers who have written about Jaymati earlier in terms of perspective and to some extent language too. She has

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not used the simplified language that was used by Padmanath Gohain Barua, but also does not follow the same style used by Lakhminath Bezbarua. She has used the language used by the people of Eastern Assam and focused on the perspective of the woman who is suffering and sacrificing her life for her husband and for the nation. The novelist in her projection of the story tries to decolonize the earlier standards set by early intellectuals and trying to break free from those ideologies. Her use of language is very similar to the base that was set by earlier modern writers, but she gives voice to the subalterns that were mostly ignored by the earlier writers.

Hriday Ekhan Mahakabya (2012):

Hriday Ekhan Mahakabya (2012) is a novel published serially in “Prantik”, Assamese journal and written by Kishore Manjit Bora. The novel focuses on the story of Arnab, the protagonist of the story and his life in Dibrugarh University. The novel is written from Arnab‟s perspective and the novel also uses the Eastern variety of Assamese. The language is comprised of the urban adolescent and young communities which have exotic, hybrid and local slangs. Arnab is young student studying in Dibrugarh University and the life of the university students are portrayed in the novel.

The novel opens with the life in University where the protagonist faces ragging when moving to the department. There are instances how the senior students use power to harass the newcomers. At one instance one senior female student is described telling the junior to wear sadar-mekhela instead of wearing salwar. She says, “Oi enedore kandi ran jikile nahabo bujiso. Assamese departmentot porhibole hole chrudar nasalibo. Kaliloir pora sadar-mekhela pindhi ahibi…” (Hey, you want to win the war by crying? To study in Assamese department you have to stop wearing churidar. Come wearing sadar-mekhela from tomorrow onwards...) (Bora,K 11) Again Arnab was seen ragged by his seniors in his hostel. He is referred as “murgi” (hen) which is a slang used by the youth to refer to newcomers who come to their hostel. In chapter 3 it is seen that one senior asks one fresher, “Mal potaisone?” (Bora,K 30) where the slang word “mal” refers to a girl and the senior is asking the boy if he is starting any kind of relationship with any girl. It is seen that the novelist has used many colloquial sentences used by the youths in the present time.

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Arnab is seen as boy who writes beautiful poems which has deeper meanings. He is appreciated by others for his writings. In the forth chapter he is seen talking to Aditi where it includes conversations of their day to day life.

- “ Tumi class nakora?” (You are not attending classes?) - “Mood nai bhai!” (I‟m not in a mood.)…. - “Muru ekei. Class, viva, seminar, sessional exam- eaiburei janu jiwan? Jiwan bar durlabh. Asolote ki jana, moi jiwanat kunudin nambaror pisot daura nai. Eaiburor uporiu jiwanar kiba gabhir artha ase, ne ki kua? (Same here. Is the life only about class, viva, seminar, sessional exams? Life is very rare. You know what! I never ran after marks. There are deeper meanings of life rather than these, what do you say?) (Bora,K 39)

The statement refers to the language used by the young people of today‟s generation. By using this type of language Bora is trying to challenged the standardized form of the written language by adding the speech of day to day life in his book.

There are also mentions of a Bengali family in the novel where Arnab goes to his friend‟s house to get one of his poems translated into Bengali language. Here Sarada‟s brother translates his poem into Bengali language. Here in this chapter the author has given to Saradas‟s mother a language which is a mixture of both Bengali and Assamese language. She says, “Sibsagarar Babupattiloi amar ekjon choto bunoke biye disu.” (We married off one of our daughters to Shivsagar‟s Babupatti.) (Bora,K 116) The novelist here in this chapter has added a poem written in Bengali language and also mentions about the culture of the Bengali family.

The novel is about the story of the young man living his life in the university and the society around it. He has mentioned instances of his university life and his journey as a lover. There are several characters in the novel that belong to different parts of Assam. But the novelist has used one form of colloquial language which is either spoken by young people or understandable for them. This can be seen as a form of decolonization of language where it is based on the earlier standardized form of language where the voice is given to the other people

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who are non-Assamese is the standardized Assamese. In one instance, he describes a teacher from Barpeta and he speaks a standardized form of Eastern Assamese which is questionable whether the novelist made it deliberately or it is a mistake on the author‟s side.

In conclusion it can be said that Assamese language in its long history has seen many ups and downs. The decolonization of Assamese language is different from that of European and African languages. If one looks at the arguments given by Ngugi wa Thiong‟o, the Assamese language was used as means to decolonize the minds of Assamese people. The Assamese language can be seen as a means of colonization as well as a means of decolonization also. It was a means of decolonization when Bengali language was dominant in Assam which was imposed by the colonizers. Therefore the intellectuals of Assam as a protest against this kind of injustice tried to polarize Assamese literature. This later became a form of colonizing process where it ignored the indigenous people‟s sentiments and made one standard form of written Assamese language. The writers of later periods challenged the system and wrote in a form which tries to include people from all communities and their languages. The examined texts also try to include people from different communities and given them a voice which of their own. Lakhminandan Bora‟s novel tries to do that but cannot fulfill its goal. In case of Juri Bora Borgohain and Kishore Manjit Bora‟s book become successful in serving the language variations between the characters of the novels. These novels try to decolonize the set norms of the early period and are open to the changes taken place in the society and its variety of languages.

References:

Thiong‟o, Ngugi wa, “The language of African Literature”. Decolonizing the Mind .James Currey Ltd. 1986 (ebook)

Bhuyan, Surya Kumar, Studies in the Literature of Assam. Lawyers Books Stall. 1956

Bora, Kishore Manjit. Hriday Ekhan Mahakabya. Purbanchal Prakash,2012,

Bora, Lakhminandan. Patal Bhairabi. Sahitya Prakash,1986, Guwahati.

Borgohain,Juri Borah. Naang-Faa. Banlata, 2016, Dibrugarh.

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