ABSTRACT
The chapter aims to evaluate Gandhi as an Indian writer in English. It begins with an outline and discussion of Gandhi’s changing attitudes towards the English language. It attempts to show that Gandhi was not against the English language but against the air of hegemony that surrounded the English language. The chapter critically analyzes two of his letters: a friendly and an official letter, one written to Rajagopalachari and the other written to the additional secretary of the Home Department, after the death of his wife, Kasturba Gandhi. The official letter documents Gandhi’s unbelievable restraint; the letter is evidence of his philosophy of non-violence or ahimsa. The informal letter documents Gandhi’s self-defeat regarding the use of the English language. The chapter then analyzes Gandhi’s own translation of his Hind Swaraj. It analyzes Gandhi’s choice of the form of dialogue and his recurring defiance of Standard British English. Gandhi posited a difference from Western methods of narration, and in this postcolonial sense he is perhaps the first Indian writer of Indian English.
