018. Monolingualism of the Other

Originally published in the late nineties, this book delves into the relationship between language and one’s identity. Before I proceed, I have to admit, more as a reminder to myself, that I barely managed to understand half of the book and that I should go back to it after a few years.

I have only one language, yet, it is not mine. (p.1)

This sentence in the first chapter stood out. To provide a little bit of context, Derrida who has jewish roots was born in Algeria that has Maghrebian culture and since Algeria was a French colony since the early 19th century, the French language was imposed in virtually all realms of the society. While, the Maghrebi jews were granted French citizenship in the late 19th century, they would lose it for a few years before they regained it.

What does it mean when you lose your citizenship, and with it, the ownership of a language? What about the language that you never knew, one that has been wiped out by the sovereign state? Thus, Derrida’s words echo the sentiments of a large group of people who are part of nation states that were erstwhile colonies.

If you were born in India and can read this blogpost, there is a high probability that your school education was in a language that was not your ‘own’; English. However, while the language was that of the coloniser, it’s appropriation along with the values of colonial modernity, has helped liberate people as well. An example that comes to my mind is the following statement by, Narayana Guru (1856–1928), a social reformer who worked against the caste-system in present-day Kerala

“It is the British who gave us Sanyasam (sagehood) and they are our gurus. And if it was in the time of Ram, Sudras and Atisudras wouldn’t be allowed an ascetic life (Sambuka, a Sudra, was beheaded by Ram himself for his pursuit of sagehood) because the Hindus rule by the Smritis” (Balakrishnan, 2000:164, as cited in Sekher, 2020)

Back to this book!

All cultures are inherently colonial…. All cultures are established through the unilateral imposition of some kind of linguistic “politics.” Domination begins… with the power of naming, that is, the power to enforce and legitimize various names. (p.95)

Who gets to classify something as a language, treat it as a dialect or for that matter treat one as a non-language? Thus Derrida’s work in a way also touches upon the linguistic sovereignty of people who are part of modern nation-states.

For instance, the 2011 Census of India recognizes 121 languages (22 in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution and the remaining 99 as non-scheduled languages). The previous Census, back in 2001, had 100 non-scheduled languages, one more than the 2011 Census. The reason there were only 99 languages in the 2011 Census is because Simte, did not have enough numbers to be included in this list. Yes, if there are less than 10,000 speakers of a particular language, it doesn’t show up in the final list and thus we render the whole community of a language, invisible.

Throughout the course of this book, Derrida takes a self-reflexive approach to examine the relationship between language, culture, memory and self-identity.

Oh, I forgot to mention. I read the Japanese translation from French by Morinaka Takaaki titled ‘Tasha no Tan’itsu Gengo Shiyō’.

Derrida J. (2024). 他者の単一言語使用 [Tasha no Tanitsu Gengo Shiyō Aruiwa Kigen No Hotetsu] (Morinaka T., Trans.). Iwanami Shoten.

References

Derrida J. (2024). 他者の単一言語使用 [Tasha no Tanitsu Gengo Shiyō Aruiwa Kigen No Hotetsu] (Morinaka T., Trans.). Iwanami Shoten.

Sekher, A. S. (2020, August 30). Narayana Guru was modern like Ambedkar and anti-caste unlike Gandhi. Forward Press. https://www.forwardpress.in/2020/10/narayana-guru-was-modern-like-ambedkar-and-anti-caste-unlike-gandhi/

PTI. (2018, July 1). More than 19,500 mother tongues spoken in India: Census. The Indian Express. https://indianexpress.com/article/india/more-than-19500-mother-tongues-spoken-in-india-census-5241056/

Seetharaman, G. (2019, May 5). Why does the Census of India focus on mother tongues? How does it make linguistic minorities invisible? The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/why-does-the-census-of-india-focus-on-mother-tongues-how-does-it-make-linguistic-minorities-invisible/articleshow/69178250.cms?from=mdr

LibGuides defines Leisure Reading as “self-selected and independent reading of materials for personal and social purposes”. The ‘Books I read in 2025’ series of blog posts are the books that I have read in 2025 as part of my leisure reading. The inspiration for writing this series comes out of my frustration of forgetting the content of the books that I read and the impact the book had on me.