Cultural anarchism: the consequences of privileging languages in Nepal

Abstract Nepali, the official language of administration of Nepal, has been privileged through systematic political manoeuvres throughout its history. English also enjoys special status and privileges, and despite the fact that it is officially only a 'foreign' language, in practice it is one of the most dominant languages in educational and economic domains. Both Nepali and English have become status symbols and tools in the hands of the ruling elites who use them to create linguistic hegemony. Speakers of other languages, on the other hand, are confused about their languages, their ethnic identity and their place in the community. To become a part of the mainstream life, they learn and use Nepali and English at the expense of their own languages. While Nepali and English contribute significantly to the development and modernisation processes, the people have paid a heavy price for them. In this article, I describe strategies adopted by the ruling elites to impose linguistic, as well as cultural dominance. I also demonstrate how the dominance of Nepali and English has led to a situation in which the people abandon their language and culture to adopt those of someone else. Keywords: language educationcultural anarchismprivileging languageslanguage policycultural identity Notes 1. An elite family of rulers who set up a family rule and reigned in Nepal 1848–1951. 2. An authoritarian rule based on the theory of councils responsible for local governance introduced in 1962. 3. Multi-party democracy was restored in Nepal in 1990 after a violent and bloody people's movement. 4. Newari, a language of Tibeto-Burman language family, is spoken by Newars, the original inhabitants of the Kathmandu Valley, formerly known as the Nepal Valley. 5. Municipalities in the central and eastern south plain which is known as the Terai. 6. A language from Indo-Aryan language family and mother tongue of the people of the south-east Terai region. 7. The unification campaign was initiated by the then king of the central state of Gorkha in 1968, hence the campaign is known as the Gorkha conquest.