SUMMARY:

The historian Akshya Saxena introduces her book Vernacular English: Reading the Anglophone in Postcolonial India (2022), which investigates how a global, elite tongue has been transformed into a local tool for democratic inclusion and political resistance. While typically viewed as a lingering shadow of British imperialism, the author argues that English functions as a vernacular force that bypasses formal literacy to provide marginalized groups, such as Dalits, a means to challenge caste oppression and state-sanctioned Hindu nationalism. Ultimately, the book redefines our understanding of linguistic power by showing how an external, colonial medium can be reclaimed as a symbol of liberation and a vital component of a nation’s multilingual identity.