Graphic Politics in Eastern India : Script and the Quest for Autonomy

Investigating the communicative practices of indigenous Santali speakers in eastern India, Nishaant Choksi examines the overlooked role of script in regional movements for autonomy to provide one of the first comprehensive theoretical and ethnographical accounts of 'graphic politics'.

Based on extensive fieldwork in the villages of southwestern West Bengal, Choksi explores the deployment of Santali scripts, including a newly created script called Ol Chiki, in Bengali-dominated local markets, the education system and in the circulation of print media. He shows how manipulating the linguistic landscape and challenging the idea of a vernacular enables Santali speakers to delineate their own political domains and scale their language on local, regional and national levels. In doing so, they contest Bengali-speaking upper castes' hegemony over public spaces and institutions, as well as the administrative demarcations of the contemporary Indian nation-state.

Combining semiotic theory with ethnographically grounded investigation, Graphic Politics in Eastern India provides a new framework for understanding writing and literacy practices among ethnic minorities and points to future directions for interdisciplinary research on indigenous autonomy in South Asia.

“An important contribution to ethnographically informed discussions of graphic pluralism, here Choksi expertly delves into the complex issues concerning the politics of script, revealing the ways that multiple scripts are implicated in concerns about languages, territory, community, senses of history and, ultimately, autonomy. An insightful book.” —Anthony K. Webster, Professor of Anthropology, University of Texas at Austin, USA

“How is the disposition of a stigmatized group in India to be understood through practices of reading, writing and public display? This book offers a roadmap and a wealth of examples grounded ethnographically and theorised semiotically.” —Chaise LaDousa, Professor of Anthropology and Director of Education Studies, Hamilton College, USA