ABSTRACT
This chapter will attempt to unravel the linguistic identity politics that functions through the medium of humour in regional cinema of Assam. We attempt to explore how the spoken language of “upper Assam” and “lower Assam” has been constructed in a hierarchical manner. We will strive to locate the current continuities and shifts of such linguistic hierarchies through the medium of cinema. Borrowing from Edward Said’s concept of Othering, we note that the language spoken in “lower Assam” has been marginalised through several mechanisms, one of them being the association of this dialect only with the scenes of comedy. In this light, there is a need to look at how the dichotomy between high and low culture gets produced. Through a textual analysis of selected Assamese films, this chapter will look at the representation of comic language in it and how that feeds into the linguistic identity politics of the state. It will also analyse how a certain form of language gets associated with or cuts through the binaries of urban and rural spaces. Critical analysis of comedy will also involve looking into the gendered role of the comic persona and whether it contributes to a social critique or is limited to just comic relief.
