Forging a Vocabulary for the Nation: A Feminist Reading of Language Textbooks -Dipta Bhog, Purwa Bharadwaj, Disha Mullick

Vol. 46, Issue No. 19, 07 May, 2011


As the national identity and the building of national

character are the core concerns of education, the

documents on educational policy mirror implicitly and

explicitly the choices that textbook writers make

regarding content. Defining the ideal national character

or identity is a matter of political contestation, and so

competing visions of nationalism can define the

educational curriculum quite differently. In the light of

this understanding, this study of textbooks maps how

the conceptual triad of nation, education and gender is

reflected in textbook content. It explores the historical

(and from this, political) context of the languages and

how this influences the vision of the nation that

particular language textbooks create. It also examines

how this historical context is reflected in the physical

and emotional landscapes conjured up in the different

language textbooks; in the way the other – the Muslim


– is constructed.


http://www.epw.in/journal/2011/19/special-articles/forging-vocabulary-nation-feminist-reading-language-textbooks.html