Translation, colonialism, and the rise of English
Document Type
Journal article
Source Publication
Economic and Political Weekly
Publication Date
4-14-1990
Volume
25
Issue
15
First Page
773
Last Page
779
Publisher
Economic and Political Weekly
Abstract
The introduction of English has been seen as "an embattled response to historical and political pressures: to tensions between the English parliament and the East India Company, between parliament and the missionaries, between the East India Company and the native elite classes". Extending this argument, the author suggests that the specific resolution of these tensions through the introduction of English education is enabled discursively by the colonial practice of translation. European translations of Indian texts prepared for a western audience provided to the 'educated' Indian a whole range of Orientalist images. Even when the anglicised Indian spoke a language other than English, he would have preferred, because of the symbolic power attached to Englsh, to gain access to his own past through the translations and histories circulated through colonial discourse English education also familiarised the Indian with ways of seeing, techniques of translation, or modes of representation that came to be accepted as 'natural'.
Print ISSN
00129976
E-ISSN
23498846
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 1990 Economic and Political Weekly
Access to external full text or publisher's version may require subscription.
Additional Information
This article also published in S. Joshi (Ed.) (1991), Rethinking English: Essays in literature, language, history (pp. 124-145). New Delhi: Trianka.
Full-text Version
Publisher’s Version
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Niranjana, T. (1990). Translation, colonialism, and the rise of English. Economic and Political Weekly, 25(15), 773-779.