Nationalism in the Vernacular : State, Tribes, and Politics of Peace in Northeast India

The book shifts our focus to the studies of nationalism by examining the relationship between orality and nationalism. It expands our understanding of not only Mizo nationalism but also informs us of the role of ordinary people in shaping nationalist ideas and imagination.

"Nationalism in the Vernacular illuminates the relationship between orality and nationalist politics. In doing so, it provides a new angle to the understanding of nationalism by looking at the popular support and participation of ordinary people in the construction of Mizo nationalism-in short, the vernacularization of nationalism. The book examines this process of vernacularization at two levels: first, the process of creating a vernacular language to express nationalist ideas and, second, the irrepressibility of the oral against the Indian state''s violent response to the nationalist movement. Drawing from multiple sources, the book-through the rich oral narratives and archival material, including government and media reports-shows how Mizos have remained active agents in asserting and claiming their rights to define ideas of nationalism in their own terms by making them distinctively Mizo"--