On 21 September 2017, Dipika will give a lecture entitled Trafficking Asian children through international adoptions: a discussion on the making of "Shambala Junction".
Shambala Junction won the 2016 Virginia Prize for Fiction in the United Kingdom. This talk will discuss the research that went into the writing of this novel.

 

Previous IIAS affiliation: 5 January 2007 - 15 January 2013
Research topic: Negotiating Languages and Forging Identities: Surinamese-Indian Women in the Netherlands

Professor Mukherjee is currently Professor 211 at the Institute of Linguistics at Shanghai International Studies University in China. Her recent work in Malaysia examined the effect of the national language policy on different migrant groups in Malaysia and her co-edited book, National Language Planning & Language Shifts in Malaysian Minority Communities: Speaking in Many Tongues was published by the Amsterdam University Press in April 2011.

She is currently working on the manuscript of The Malaysian Sociolinguistic Scene: A Selection of Studies (to be co-edited with Maya Khemlani David and Mohan Lal);  A monograph on Women and Language Change in the Malaysian-Bengali Community; and two journal articles on Language Planning and Policy in China.

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A podcast of a Malaysian  radio interview of this book is available at http://www.bfm.my/in-conversation-dipika-mukherjee-15-june-2011.html

Women’s Voices In The Diaspora:  Is “Multi” Something To Be Celebrated?.  Third Annual Conference of the South Asian Studies Association, University of Central Florida, Orlando, April 3-5, 2009.

Bideshi And Bicultural: Language Maintenance In Two Diasporic Indian Communities In Malaysia and The Netherlands. Kern Institute, Leiden, The Netherlands, March 20, 2009.

Adaptation or Integration? Language Choice in Malaysian Indian Communities. Panel on Language Policy And Language Reality, Croatian Applied Linguistics Society – 21st International Conference, Split, Croatia, 24th-26th May 2007 (with Maya Khemlani David). Lated published as, “Adaptation or Integration? Language Choice in Malaysian Indian Communities.” In Granic, Jagoda (ed). Jezièna politika i jezièna stvarnost / Language Policy and Language Reality. Zagreb: HDPL. 539-547, 2009. (with Maya K. David).

Discussant for “MABBIM and the Development of Malay: Minimizing Geopolitical Divergences,” at Malay/Indonesian as a Language of Knowledge and Practical Communication, IIAS Roundatable Meeting, Leiden, The Netherlands.  26th March, 2008.

What decides Relevance and Accuracy?  The Perils of Language Education in the Workplace.  Talking Across the World Conference 2008, Bangalore, India, 25 - 26 April, 2008.

Language Choice of the Minority Indian Communities in Malaysia.  5th Urban Language Seminar, Leiden University, Netherlands, 9-11 July 2007.

"Sex and other Taboo Topics: Language Shift in Group Interactions among Older Malaysian-Bengali Women.” Maya Khemlani David (ed). Language Choices and Discourse of Malaysian Families – Case Studies of Families in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  SIRD: Kuala Lumpur, 43-60, 2006. 

“Role of Women in Language Maintenance and Language Shift:  Focus on the Bengali Community in Malaysia," International Journal of the Sociology of Language 161: 103-120, 2003.

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Project 2:

In recent years sociolinguistic studies have focused on the study of language as a political and economic entity, and the findings have been highly nuanced when immigrant groups are the focus of the study. My own work in the Malaysian-Bengali community (Mukherjee 2006; 2003), describes the social and cultural framework that promotes the sharing and exchange necessary to overcome the extreme race stratification in Malaysia and promote a sense of community within the larger Malaysian context. I would like to continue this established tradition of studying language use in small communities by combining the methodologies of ethnography and linguistics, and I would like to focus on the women in the Surinamese-Indian community in the Netherlands.

I believe this project is important for several reasons: First, one of the most vigorous and exciting arenas for linguistic change and innovation is within immigrant communities, and the Surinamese-Indian community is positioned within a multilingual Europe, within a continent still coming to terms with the racial tensions inherent in a multilingual population with cultural pluralism. As Europe wrestles with the problems of assimilation and integration of ethnic minorities, such detailed sociolinguistic studies serve to highlight the importance of culture and ethnic backgrounds in shaping practices and narratives.

Second, the role of women in language maintenance has always been an interesting issue and women are especially sensitive to the language question. Whether the woman marries within the community or outside of it, whether she has been born into the community or married into it, whether the language of her education alienates her from the language of her community, all become important factors in the expression of her identity. How the identities evolve for women in the Surinamese-Indian community, and how their roles play out in the larger Dutch society, would be very interesting to explore.

Finally, by developing a conceptual framework that is grounded in the everyday lives being studied, I will focus on narratives and practices that simultaneously draw upon and integrate the domains of cultural group and family. By explicating such hidden material I hope to unearth nuanced findings that may challenge assumptions about gender, language and societal roles.

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 “Loving Bollywood and Being Dutch: Multilingual code- switching and Identity issues among Surinamese-Indian women in Amsterdam.” In Dubois, I, Baumgartner N & Fuller J, (eds).  Multilingual Identities: New Global Perspectives on Immigrant Discourse. New Jersey: Multilingual Matters. (Forthcoming, 2012).

Bollywood Dancing in Amsterdam: Celebrating Life and Longings. International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter 51, Summer 2009. 12-13.

Women’s Voices In The Diaspora:  Is “Multi” Something To Be Celebrated?.  Third Annual Conference of the South Asian Studies Association, University of Central Florida, Orlando, April 3-5, 2009.

Bideshi And Bicultural: Language Maintenance In Two Diasporic Indian Communities In Malaysia and The Netherlands. Kern Institute, Leiden, The Netherlands, March 20, 2009.

Language Attitude and Language Shift among Surinamese-Hindustani Women: Focus on a Bollywood Dance Class in Amsterdam. International Institute of Asian Studies Fellows Symposium, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, February 25, 2009.

Loving Bollywood and Being Dutch: Multilingual code- switching and Identity issues among Surinamese-Indian women in Amsterdam. Panel on Multilingual identities: new global perspectives on immigrant discourse. AILA (Association Internationale de Linguistique Appliquée: 15th World Congress for Applied Linguistics), Essen, Germany, 24-29 August, 2008.

Its really nice...you can see in the movies: The landscape of loss in the language of Surinamese-Hindustani women in the Netherlands. Center for the Study of Culture and Society, Bangalore, India.  April 24, 2008.

I Want Them Also Proud To Be A Hindustani: Surinamese-Indian Women and Bollywood Dancing.  Babylon, Centre for the Study of Multicultural Society, at Tilburg University, December 10, 2007.

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Bollywood Dancing in Amsterdam: Celebrating Life and Longings. International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter 51, Summer 2009. 12-13.

Professor Mukherjee also  made her debut as a novelist with the publication of Thunder Demons by Gyaana Books in June 2011. This novel, based on the history of a Malaysian-Indian family, was long listed for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2009. More information at: http://www.dipikamukherjee.com/thunder_demons/reviews_and_interviews

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Edited Volumes

Mukherjee, D & David, M. eds. (2010) Language Shifts Among Malaysian Minorities as Effects Of National Language Planning. ICAS/IIAS Series Editor: Paul van der Velde. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. (Forthcoming 2010)

Silverfish New Writing 6: New Writing from Malaysia, Singapore and Beyond. 2006. Kuala Lumpur: Silverfish.

The Merlion and the Hibiscus: Contemporary Short Stories from Singapore and Malaysia. 2002. New Delhi: Penguin. (co-edited with Kirpal Singh and M.A.Quayum M. A)

Book Chapters

“Loving Bollywood and Being Dutch: Multilingual code- switching and Identity issues among Surinamese-Indian women in Amsterdam.” In Dubois, I, Baumgartner N & Fuller J, (eds).  Multilingual Identities: New Global Perspectives on Immigrant Discourse. New Jersey: Multilingual Matters. (Forthcoming, 2010).

"Everyone is dada and didi and boudi and whathaveyou": Arranged Marriages and Language Maintenance in the Bengali Community in Malaysia.  In Parasivam, S. and Muthusamy, P. (eds).  Code Switching Across Cultures.  Serdang: UPM Press.  (Forthcoming, 2010).

"Sex and other Taboo Topics: Language Shift in Group Interactions among Older Malaysian-Bengali Women.” Maya Khemlani David (ed). Language Choices and Discourse of Malaysian Families – Case Studies of Families in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  SIRD: Kuala Lumpur, 43-60, 2006. 

"Collaborative Writing, Linguistic Insecurity and the International Classroom," in Hyacinth Gaudart and Maya Khemlani David eds., Towards More Effective Learning and Teaching of English, Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian English Language Teaching Association, 115-121, 1993.

Journal Articles

Bollywood Dancing in Amsterdam: Celebrating Life and Longings. International Institute for Asian Studies Newsletter 51, Summer 2009. 12-13.

“Adaptation or Integration? Language Choice in Malaysian Indian Communities.” In Granic, Jagoda (ed). Jezièna politika i jezièna stvarnost / Language Policy and Language Reality. Zagreb: HDPL. 539-547, 2009. (with Maya K. David).

“Cracking the Code:  Creating an Online Technical Writing Course for Corporate Clients in Southeast Asia,” Journal of Communication Practices, 2 (1): 37-50, 2005.

“Role of Women in Language Maintenance and Language Shift:  Focus on the Bengali Community in Malaysia," International Journal of the Sociology of Language 161: 103-120, 2003.

“Online Learning, Discourse Structures, and the Computer Engineering Student,” Language and Communication Review 1 (1): 1-4, 2002 (with Stephen McDonnell).

“Linguistic Insecurity, Collaborative Learning and an Online Technical Writing Course: What Happens Next?” in Proceedings of Computers and Advanced Technology in Education, G. A. S. Torrellas and V. Uskov (eds). Anaheim: ACTA Press, pp. 49-51, 2002.

“Creating an Online Technical Writing Course for Corporate Clients: Challenges and Tribulations," in Proceedings of Association of Southeast Asian Institutes of Higher Learning 2002: Seminar on Lifelong Learning. Nanyang Technological University: Singapore, pp. 289-297, 2002.

“Do students actually learn online?” in T. Calvert and T. Keenan (eds.), Proceedings of Computers and Advanced Technology in Education, Anaheim, U.S.A, pp. 135-138, 2001.

“Survival of the Fittest:  Ethnic Identity and Language Use by Women in the Immigrant Malaysian-Bengali Community," in The Linguistic Construction of Social and Personal Identity, Research Committee on Sociolinguistics-RC 25 (International Sociological Association), Evora, Portugal:  Cidehus, pp. 135-139, 1996.

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