The social space of language: Punjabi popular narrative in colonial India, c. 1850--1900

This dissertation is a historical study of late-nineteenth-century Punjabi language oral and literary traditions. It argues that the practices associated with the production and consumption of popular Punjabi narratives, and the themes they engaged with, provide critical insights into the history of late-nineteenth-century Punjab. The social history of Punjabi literature reveals that it was a tradition shared by the region's inhabitants irrespective of their religious community, class position, locality, or gender; and that the central concepts of Punjabi self-understanding were locality, kinship, and piety.; The dissertation is organized by the examination of three interrelated themes. The first is the influence of colonial language policy on Punjabi linguistic and literary practice, arguing that the colonial state pushed Punjabi to the margins of state discourse thereby creating a space for its relative autonomy from colonial intervention. The second theme explores the indigenous institutional sites, such as Sufi khanqahs (orders) and Sikh dharmshalas (schools), that patronized Punjabi language and literature. My analysis suggests that the vitality of the Punjabi literary tradition was located in these, as opposed to state-sponsored arenas. The dissertation also expands on the social relations embedded in the ways Punjabi, primarily an oral tradition, was performed at these sites. The third theme focuses on the social history of Punjabi literary production and the thematic content of its narratives. This dissertation argues that while the composers of Punjabi literature came from diverse religious, class, and local backgrounds, the tradition shows a remarkable degree of coherence. The use of particular genealogies and distinctive conventions produced, by the early-nineteenth century, evidence of a fully self-conscious, shared regional literary tradition. The dissertation then examines the thematic content of Hir-Ranjha, a Punjabi narrative dating from at least the sixteenth century, tracing representations or religious authority, social relations, and piety. In using these representations to reflect on the cultural history of the late-nineteenth century, the analysis reveals that the salient features of life in the Punjab during this period were marked by locality, kinship, and shared spirituality.