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‘Sanskrit-speaking’ Villages, Linguistic Utopias and the Metaphysics of Development

Imagining Sanskritland

Inbunden, Engelska, 2026

2 839 kr

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This book is a recollection of McCartney’s journey across ‘Sanskritland,’ which is the term coined to refer to the utopian landscape within which the ‘Language of the Gods’ is thought to be spoken.There are three destinations on the author’s journey. The first includes understanding how Sanskrit narratives are woven into yoga-inflected ‘lifestyles,’ forming biographies operationalised toward soft-power purposes. Next, the historical sociolinguistic contexts that have shaped Sanskritland are discussed, framed by application in sustainable development narratives. Finally, comprehensive demographic and linguistic analyses of Sanskrit across all of India’s census enumerations (from 1872 to 2011) shows the ‘shifting sands’ of Sanskrit’s ‘speakers’ and how the ‘Sanskrit-speaking’ village data show that most people who identify as speakers of Sanskrit live in urban areas and ‘speak’ Sanskrit as a third language. All of these together shed light on how, why, and where Sanskrit is spoken in the twenty-first century, the complex and dynamic historical and contemporary that have allowed this, and how both yoga and Sanskrit are instruments for development and soft-power projects.This book is an essential read for scholars and students of linguistic anthropology, Indology, and sustainable development.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum2026-08-31
Mått156 x 234 x undefined mm
Vikt453 g
FormatInbunden
SpråkEngelska
SerieRoutledge Studies in Sociolinguistics
Antal sidor270
FörlagTaylor & Francis Ltd
ISBN9781032759746

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Patrick S.D. McCartney, who received his PhD in sociolinguistic and cultural economic anthropology from the Australian National University in 2016, is trained in a range of disciplines, including Indo-European linguistics, Indology, archaeology, and cultural heritage management. His research has evolved to incorporate methods from computational social science and geospatial data visualisation. Patrick uses yoga and Sanskrit as frameworks to analyse the political ambitions and soft-power dynamics of the Indian state, as well as the influence of non-state actors in the global wellness tourism industry.

Contents List of Figures List of Tables Preface Acknowledgements Fundings Primary Texts Mentioned A Brief Outline of this Book Part 1. Journeying into the Vedic Chapter 1. En Route Chapter 2. The Eternal Aspiration Chapter 3. The Myth and Making of the ‘Vedic’ Chapter 4. Exploring the Concept of a ‘Vedic Village’ Part 2: Imagining Sanskritic Futures Chapter 5. Using One’s Imagination Chapter 6. Indian Knowledge Systems and Transformational Narratives Chapter 7. Sanskrit’s Faith-based Development Narratives Part 3. The Sociolinguistics of Sanskritland Chapter 8. Spoken Sanskrit’s Revivalism Chapter 9. Sanskritic Sociolinguistics Chapter 10. The Complex Landscape of Sanskrit Revival Part 4: Sanskrit and the Census Chapter 11. Visualising Sanskrit’s Census Tokens Chapter 12. Analysis and Mapping of Sanskritland Conclusion: Homeward Bound Index

'Bridges persistent gaps between philology, history and ethnography that have plagued Indology. Through an empirical study of so-called 'Vedic' villages, the spoken Sanskrit movement, and transnational wellness discourses around Yoga and Ayurveda, the author draws our attention to the sociolinguistics, as it were, of an imaginary place called "Sanskritland". Given the growing symbolic significance of Sanskrit to the construction of a Hindu Rashtra, a space permeated by what policy parlance names "Indian Knowledge Systems", this book appears not a moment too soon.'Ananya Vajpeyi, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi'Imagining Sanskritland is a masterful exploration of the making of a linguistic utopia, chiefly as an ideological project that has been shaped by the troubles and travails of Hindutva. By putting contemporary Indian populist nationalism in the spotlight, the many claims of ‘Sanskrit-speaking’ for authenticity, morality and civilizational pride are traced and studied within narratives about the wellness Industry, consumerism, sustainable development and ecological harmony. In helping us understand the many gaps and disconnects between the ideal worlds of Sanskrit revivalism and the realities of the everyday, McCartney has made a significant and stellar contribution to the study of cultural politics in the age of contemporary populism.' Rohan D'Souza, Professor, ASAFAS, Kyoto University.