Tyler Williams’s history of early modern Hindi reveals a literary world far more diverse and materially complex than the contemporary definition of the language suggests, challenging fixed ideas about literature and cultural history
Linguistic and historical analysis of Southasian swear words shows that they act as a linguistic mirror, reflecting deep taboos and cultural prejudices as well as unexpected social camaraderie
This week in Himal
Hugo Ribadeau Dumas delves into India’s language politics, revealing how pride and shame shapes language fluency in Bihar, amid the continued domination of Hindi and
The ambitious Shabdakalpa project, launching in 2028, aims to map the history of every Bengali word in digital form, preserving cultural memory and inspiring future Southasian language initiatives
What France’s vanishing dialects reveal about language politics in India, and how pride and shame shape Bihar’s tongues amid the dominance of Hindi and English
A conversation with the Indologist Wendy Doniger on her wide-ranging study ‘The Cave of Echoes’, the importance of understanding other peoples’ myths, and the Hindu right’s efforts to suppress the study of religion
The Indian-Francophone writer Ari Gautier on Black and Dalit struggles, indentured labour, and the little-known histories of French colonialism in South India
The International Booker Prize-winning author-translator duo discuss their latest book – and why its story, based loosely around the 1992 demolition of the Babri Masjid, remains deeply relevant today
Noorjahan Bose’s memoir of her pioneering life recounts a host of stories born of female autonomy – all while spanning Partition, the Bangla Language Movement, the Liberation War and the post-independence history of Bangladesh
India and China’s close interactions over the centuries – literary or otherwise – make for important and interesting reference points, but much work needs to be done to address the failings and inadequacies of comparing the two
