Hairdressing a Vernacular: Women, Grammar, and Discipline in Colonial Western India

A nineteenth-century South Asian grammarian remarked that the vernacular language, for which he was composing a grammar, ought to be “disentangled with the comb of grammar.” Taking a cue from this metaphor, the presentation will delineate how the process of standardizing vernacular languages in colonial South Asia intersected with contemporary efforts to shape women into “ideal ladies.” The focus of the presentation is the Marathi-speaking regions of western India. 

Speaker: Dr. Madhura Damle, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Presidency University, Kolkata, India

Please register for the event here. This presentation will take place virtually via Zoom.