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The IUP Journal of English Studies

A Global Alternative or a Colonial Legacy: The Problematics of English

Article Details

Pub. Date	: June, 2022
Product Name	: The IUP Journal of English Studies
Product Type	: Article
Product Code	: IJES020622
Author Name	:Nisha Misra, Ruchi Tandon and Devesh Kumar Sharma
Availability	: YES
Subject/Domain	: Arts & Humanities
Download Format	: PDF Format
No. of Pages	: 08

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Abstract

A relic of the past, colonization is but an albatross still hanging around the necks of the ex-colonized. It has had its heydays giving way to post and post-postcolonialism, however, its presence can still be felt in some form or the other across the world. It is ironical but true that certain seeds of colonization have borne the fruit long after the colonies became free, language being one. It left behind a remnant that became a legacy, a prized possession-the English language. English language's journey from the classes to the masses has been very interesting while at the same time controversial. Seeped as it has into the very core of an average Indian's life force, it is guilty of usurping its very Indianness. Even after seventy-two years of independence, the Indian minds seem to remain imprisoned by this very potent tool of colonization. The present paper, thus, seeks to study the problematics of English vis-a-vis the Indian mindset and its impact on the society.

Introduction

History has been a witness to the fact that the impact of colonization is never limited to the political or economic arena but always goes beyond the obvious. Searing through the very social fabric, it tears into what defines the very being of a people-the culture with all its paraphernalia. Acculturation, in other words, is the biggest damage that the colonizers can inflict upon their subjects, and language has always been an easy and convenient tool. Similar has been the case with 'the English' and 'English' in India. It was once said that 'the sun never set on the British Empire' and it is somewhat true even today as the British ensured that it continues to shine, even though obliquely. After being ousted from the Indian soil, they left behind their linguistic footprints deeply entrenched in the Indian psyche, creating in the process a mental universe that would essentially remain English.