Simultaneous Identities: Language, Education, and the Nepali Nation

The recent socio-political changes in Nepal have brought attention to more plural, inclusive, and diverse notions of Nepaliness, but both assimilationist and pluralist visions continue to remain normative. This book illustrates that social actors in minority language education made simultaneous claims to more than one social identity by discursively positioning ethnic identity as national identity. It builds on the notion of simultaneity to complicate the neat compartmentalization of identities and argues for an analytical necessity to adopt a relational approach.

Format: Hardback
Length: 290 pages
Publication date: 03 December 2020
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The recent socio-political changes in Nepal have placed assimilationist notions of Nepali nationalism under intense scrutiny, leading to a heightened awareness of more plural, inclusive, and diverse conceptions of Nepaliness. While both assimilationist and pluralist visions continue to hold normative influence, they often juxtapose ethnic and national identity against each other. This book, through an examination of everyday practices in two minority language schools, demonstrates that social actors in minority language education did not necessarily choose between minority identity and national identity. Instead, they made simultaneous claims to multiple social identities by discursively positioning ethnic identity as a national identity. Building on the concept of simultaneity, the book illustrates that people maintain their multi-layered identities through the unresolved co-presences of seemingly contradictory ways. By advocating for a relational approach, the book aims to complicate the tidy categorization of identities and challenge the dominant narratives that perpetuate divisions.

The recent socio-political changes in Nepal have brought assimilationist notions of Nepali nationalism under a tight scrutiny and drawn attention to more plural, inclusive, and diverse notions of Nepaliness.

However, both assimilationist and pluralist visions continue to remain normative in their approach, and often posit ethnic and national identity in opposition to each other.

Drawing on the everyday practices in the two schools, this book illustrates that social actors in minority language education did not necessarily select between minority identity and national identity, but instead made simultaneous claims to more than one social identity by discursively positioning ethnic identity as national identity.

It builds on the notion of simultaneity to illustrate that it is through the unresolved co-presences of apparently contradictory ways that people maintain their multi-layered identities.

By arguing for an analytical necessity to adopt relational approach, it aims to complicate the neat compartmentalization of identities.

Weight: 520g
Dimension: 182 x 238 x 25 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781108489928