ABSTRACT
Chapter 5 examines debates over language during the time of the nationalist movement, especially after Gandhi's rise to power from the mid-1910s. It specifically interrogates the ideas of language presented by two famous figures from Gujarat, M.K. Gandhi (1869–1948) himself and K.M. Munshi (1887–1971). The author explores how they discussed issues relating to the Gujarati language and its literature, English education, the national language of India, and the relationship between regional languages and the national language and between language and territory. Their ideas provide a vital insight into the linguistic situation of India and Gujarat in their time and the way in which the language policies of the postcolonial state began to be formed.
