Willans, Fiona and Prasad, Rajendra (2021) From Hindustani to (Fiji) Hindi and Back to Fiji Baat? Metalinguistic Reconstructions of the National Variety of Hindi in Fiji. The Journal of Pacific History, 56 (2). pp. 101-118. ISSN 0022-3344
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
One factor that has united Fijians of Indian descent is the language of Fiji Hindi, or Fiji Baat. Developed on the plantations of the indenture period, it is now the mother tongue of virtually all Indo-Fijians, distinct from the Standard Hindi that is taught in schools. This paper examines the way these two varieties of Hindi have been metalinguistically reconstructed from the early colonial period to the present day, focusing particularly on the labels Hindustani, Hindi, Fiji Hindi and Fiji Baat. We examine the extent to which Fiji Hindi fits into the pan-Fijian identity that is supposed to unite all Fiji citizens without drawing attention to ethnic difference. We argue that the acceptance of Fiji Hindi as part of a hybrid national identity is impeded both by this political erasure of ethnicity, and by the lingering negative attitudes expressed by its own speakers about the intralingual variation within Hindi.
| Item Type: | Journal Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | D History General and Old World > DU Oceania (South Seas) P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics |
| Divisions: | School of Pacific Arts, Communication and Education (SPACE) |
| Depositing User: | Fiona Willans |
| Date Deposited: | 30 Aug 2021 23:10 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Oct 2023 23:25 |
| URI: | https://repository.usp.ac.fj/id/eprint/12779 |
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