ABSTRACT
W ithin the realm of literary history, J. H. da Cunha Rivara, the Secretary to the Governor General, and elite Goans have customarily been credited for their efforts to systematize and advocate a wider use of the Konkani language, even though they did not use it themselves as a literary medium. A continuity of influence is assumed between the publications of this section of Goans and Portuguese and the subsequent growth in Konkani print in the early years of the twentieth century.1 However, the divisive effect of linguistic politics and print, the relatively depressed print economy in Goa, and the absence of intellectual links between various classes of Goans, diminished the potential for literary or cultural influence of elite Goans over other groups.
