People’s Linguistic Survey of India, Volume 9, Part 2, The Languages of Gujarat, Diu & Daman and Dadra & Nagar Haveli

by G.N. Devy, Kanji Patel

Gujarat, with the longest coastline in the country, is also one of the largest states of India. The union territory of Diu & Daman and Dadra & Nagar Haveli is closely associated with the state as well. Due to years of migratory influences, this vast area is a melting pot of people, cultures and languages, and this makes it uniquely diverse. Though Gujarati is spoken by the majority, there are a number of languages that make up the linguistic matrix. This volume of the People’s Linguistic Survey of India, The Languages of Gujarat, Diu & Daman and Dadra & Nagar Haveli (volume nine, part two) sheds light on not just Gujarati and its varieties, but also other Scheduled and Non-Scheduled languages, Tribal languages, and most importantly, the languages of Denotified, Nomadic and Coastal communities in use in the state as well as the union territory. It is hoped that the volume will draw attention to the distinct linguistic environment and the harmony with which these languages coexist in this part of the country

552 pages, Hardcover

Published January 30, 2023

About the author

Ganesh N. Devy, formerly professor of English at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, a renowned literary critic and activist is founder and director of the Tribal Academy at Tejgadh, Gujarat, and director of the Sahitya Akademi’s Project on Literature in Tribal Languages and Oral Traditions. He was educated at Shivaji University, Kolhapur and the University of Leeds, UK. Among his many academic assignments, he has held fellowships at Leeds and Yale Universities and has been a Jawaharlal Nehru Fellow (1994-96).

Currently (2002 - 2007), he is a Professor at the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Commmunication Technology (DA-IICT), Gandhinagar.

Awards

He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award for `After Amnesia', and the SAARC Writers’ Foundation Award for his work with denotified tribals. He has also won the reputed Prince Claus Award (2003) awarded by the Prince Claus Fund for his work for the conservation of the history, languages and views of oppressed communities in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Along with Laxman Gaikwad and Mahashweta Devi, he is one of the founders of The Denotified and Nomadic Tribes Rights Action Group (DNT-RAG).

Publications

* Critical Thought (1987)
* In Another Tongue (1992)
* Of Many Heroes (1997)
* India Between Tradition and Modernity (co-edited, 1997)
* Indian Literary Criticism: Theory & Interpretation (2002).
* Painted Words: An Anthology of Tribal Literature (editor, 2002).
* A Nomad Called Thief (2006)
* Keywords: Truth (contributor, date unknown)
* Vaanprastha (in Marathi, date unknown)
* Adivasi Jane Che (in Gujarati, date unknown).