ABSTRACT
The first chapter deals with the debates on Linguistic Reorganisation of States in India. This event can be seen as the singular point of reference to make a case for the emergence of linguistic nationalism in India. Recently, scholars have tried to challenge the concepts of linguistic nationalism and linguistic identity as serious explanatory tools for understanding the phenomena that go under their names. In joining forces with such efforts, this chapter argues that Linguistic Reorganisation of States is not to be examined as an eruption of latent or learnt nationalism, but must be examined for how it is a proxy for engaging with the colonial-national state. It also tries to situate the demand for linguistic states as a process whereby the Indian political class learnt the normative language of nation and nationalism in order to make political claims in the post-imperial, postcolonial world. The chapter ends by introducing how nationalism as a phenomenon always appears as an evaluative concept and sets up normative expectations about non-Western societies.
