Representation of indigenous languages employing a religious screen for the discursive construction of students' postcolonial national identities: A curious case of ‘internal colonisation’ and ‘cultural invasion’ in Pakistani schools

Abstract

This study problematises the discourses of Pakistan's national curriculum textbooks to investigate how they represent Pakistan's indigenous languages/cultures through the prism of religion to constitute secondary school students' particular postcolonial linguistic identities. It also draws on the perspectives of 12 teachers and 424 students to record their responses. Taking insights from Paulo Freire's cultural invasion, Robert Blauner's internal colonisation and selected postcolonial perspectives, the study notes a dynamic interplay of the sampled textbooks, schoolteachers and the school as a site of discursive social practices. Jointly, they position students within an exclusionary homogenous Urdu-loving group-a language which is represented as Arabic's tributary. Indigenous languages are recognised, however, as an adjunct to Arabic and Urdu, emphasising their role in the proselytisation of Islam in the region. Similarly, fine arts and indigenous cultural festivals are represented from a particular religious lens. The students strongly identify with this curious case of internal colonisation K E Y W O R D S cultural invasion, indigenous languages, internal colonisation, mother tongue, postcolonial identities, schooling and national identities Key insightsWhat is the main issue that the paper addresses? Pakistan is a postcolonial country of vast ethnic/cultural variety, and people living in all four of its provinces speak different languages which are mutually unintelligible. This study investigates how Pakistan's national curriculum secondary school textbooks represent Pakistan's indigenous languages/cultures to constitute students' postcolonial linguistic identities for their national identity constructions. What are the main insights that the paper provides?The findings suggest that textbooks do not represent indigenous languages in their own right, but vis-à-vis their role in proselytising Islam; and position schoolchildren within a monolithic Urdu (Pakistan's national language)-loving group. Situated thus, students attribute inferiority to their mother tongue/indigenous languages and evince aversion for pluralistic identities and religious minorities. How to cite this article: Qazi, M. H., Javid, C. Z. & Ullah, I. (2023). Representation of indigenous languages employing a religious screen for the discursive construction of students' postcolonial national identities: A curious case of 'internal colonisation' and 'cultural invasion' in Pakistani schools.

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