A Study On The Construction Of Urdu Identity In The Process Of Modern Transformation In India(1857-1947)

As a basic tool in human's social life and an important force in shaping the organizational form of communities,language provides possibilities to define the identity of an individual.The spontaneous language reform movement in human society can both change the language itself and the world,while the change of the world is bound to be accompanied by the change of language.Urdu is one of the main languages spoken in Pakistan and India.In the process of India' s modern transformation,the change of Urdu's identity reflects the political ideology of Muslim elite by marking their national consciousness.At the same time,the change of Urdu's identity not only motivates the overall social,political and cultural changes in India but also acts as a part of the social transformation itself.To a certain extent,the change of Urdu's identity is the epitome of the transformation of Indian society from traditional to modern nation-state.This dissertation draws on Reem Basiouney's theory of "indexability" of language and Prasenjit Duara's theory of "superscription of symbols" to explore the development and evolution of Urdu language during the modern transformation of India(1857-1947).By analyzing Urdu language reforms and the identification of Urdu language communities,this dissertation attempts to discuss the unique mechanism of the modern transformation of Indian language and society.Furthermore,this dissertation explores issues concerning the legacy of colonialism and attempts to find specific ways of decolonization from the perspective of language research.In terms of methodologies,this research mainly uses literature method,historical research method and sociolinguistic research method.The foundation and originality of the research are based on a series of original documents.This dissertation is divided into seven parts according to the historical development of Urdu identity construction.The introduction part introduces the origin and significance of the research,and defines specific concepts,research period,research literature and research methods.Chapter One examines the identity construction of Urdu as a symbol for Muslim communities.Wiliam Fort College,a British language teaching and researching institution,reshaped Urdu for the interest of British colonial authority.Since then,Urdu literature developed a specific genre in which written language is in accordance with oral language.On this basis,during the second half of the 19th century the leader of Aligarh Movement,Syed Ahmed Khan,further constructed Urdu as a symbol of Muslim communities in India through the creation of Urdu argumentative prose and Urdu public speech.Chapter Two examines the identity construction of Urdu as a standard language.After the construction of language identity in the 19th century,the Islamic implication embodied in Urdu led Hindus to accuse it of being unable to be promoted as an Indian language.At the same time,Urdu itself also needs to be standardized to meet the demands of modern society.In order to solve the above problems,Urdu intellectuals have further ensured the ability of Urdu to be promoted and applied in various fields of society through standardization movement.Besides,they started to pay attention to Indian as well as Islamic characteristics of Urdu in specific language reform measures.Chapter Three examines the identity construction of Urdu as a cosmopolitan language.The "Indian Identity" with the entire Indian subcontinent as the geographic scope further developed and took shape during the 1920s.To prove Urdu is a language which can be promoted throughout India,Urdu intellectuals must go beyond North India and deal with the relationship between Urdu and the language communities in South India.For this reason,the Urdu intellectuals expanded the boundary of Urdu language communities from North India to South India through the reconstruction of Urdu language history.During this process,the intellectuals successfully constructed Urdu as a cosmopolitan language in India.Chapter Four examines the identity construction of Urdu as a language of science."Indian Identity" drove Urdu intellectuals to deal with the relationship between this language and the colonial ruler 's language "English".The intellectuals tried to further establish Urdu as an Indian language and promoted it in Indian territory through the confrontation with English.Considering the role of science in the national rejuvenation of Indian and the defects of English medium science education,Urdu intellectuals started to promote Urdu as a medium of science education and research in India by coining scientific and technological terms.Chapter Five examines the identity construction of Urdu as the national language of India.India gradually achieved provincial autonomy after the 1930s.During this time period,the main contradictions of Indian society gradually shifted from the confrontation between Indian and British to confrontation between politicians of different religious communities in anticipation of the withdrawal of colonial force.In order to gain social,cultural and political dominance in India,Urdu intellectuals began to compete with Hindi supporters to promote Urdu to be the national language of India.They tried to unite other minority communities such as Dravidian communities in South India,Anglo-Indian communities and tribal people communities to help their language promotion campaigns.However,the partition of Pakistan and India brought this promotion plan to an abrupt end.By analyzing the construction process of Urdu's identity in the modern transformation of India,this paper draws the following conclusions:First,the construction of Urdu's identity is affected by "phono centrism" in the trend of world language reform,besides,it also reflects the attempt that North Indian Muslims were competing for power using language symbols in the process of India's transformation from a traditional society to a nation-state.Second,during India's modern transformation,Urdu has been redefined based on Khari Boli,Rekhta Poetry and the colloquial essays created by Fort William College.It was further developed to apply in various fields such as politics,education,and science.Indian and Islamic registers are both embodied in Urdu.Meanwhile,Urdu intellectuals gradually expanded this language from the symbol of North Indian Muslims to the cosmopolitan language of India.Third,Urdu,which has undergone a modern transformation during 1857-1947,continues to play an important role in shaping the national identity of India and Pakistan.Fourth,the fundamental reason of domestic language conflicts in India and Pakistan is that it is difficult for both countries to construct a unified national identity.This dissertation proposes that the possible way for India and Pakistan to decolonize is to question the categories and classifications of Indian society invented in British colonial period,but to return to tradition and demonstrate that "Indian civilization" itself may have a kind of unity and continuity so as to fundamentally dissolve the contradictions between different communities.