Diversity is a buzzword of our times and yet the extent of religious diversity in Western societies is generally misconceived. This ground-breaking research draws attention to the journey of one migrant religious institution in an era of religious superdiversity.
Based on a sociolinguistic ethnography in a Tamil Saivite temple in Australia, the book explores the challenges for the institution in maintaining its linguistic and cultural identity in a new context. The temple is faced with catering for devotees of diverse ethnicities, languages, and religious interpretations; not to mention divergent views between different generations of migrants who share ethnicity and language. At the same time, core members of the temple seek to continue religious and cultural practices according to the traditions of their homelands in Sri Lanka, a country where their identity and language has been under threat.
The study offers a rich picture of changing language practices in a diasporic religious institution. Perera inspects language ideology considerations in the design of institutional language policy and how such policy manifests in language use in the temple spaces. This includes the temple’s Sunday school where heritage language and religion interplay in second-generation migrant adolescents’ identifications and discourse.
Author(s): Nirukshi Perera
Series: Routledge Studies in Sociolinguistics
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 174
City: London
Cover
Endorsement
Half Title
Series Information
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Figures
Tables
Preface
Acknowledgements
Transliteration System
Transcription Symbols
1 Language and Religion in Superdiverse Times
Introduction
Aims of the Book
About Your Narrator – Researcher Positionality
The Site: The Saiva Temple
A Brief History
Layout
Main Activities in the Temple
Research Methodology: (Socio)linguistic Ethnography
Ethics and Participant Recruitment
Research Design
Observation, Participant Observation, and Field Notes
Survey of Devotees
Naturalistic Data
Student Questionnaire and Interviews
Building Relationships With Key Actors in the Local Tamil Community
Chapter Outline
Notes
References
2 The Lankan Tamil Diaspora and Hinduism
Introduction
The Sri Lankan Context
Linguistic and Religious Marginalisation in Sri Lanka
Civil War and the Aftermath
Language During and After War
The Complexity of Being a Lankan Tamil Diaspora
Religion and Language
Is There a Hindu Diaspora?
The Transference and Adaptation of Hinduism Into Western Settings
Templeisation
The Australian Context
Sri Lankan Migration to Australia
Hinduism in Australia
Conclusion
Notes
References
3 Language and Faith Challenges at an Australian Hindu Temple
Introduction
Long-term Survival of Migrant Religious Institutions
Superdiverse Devotees at the Saiva Temple
Implications for Language in the Saiva Temple
Second-generation Engagement in the Saiva Temple
Conclusion
Notes
References
4 Approaches to Language Policy and Faith Transmission
Introduction
Language Ideologies
Tamil Saivism and Language Ideology
Unpacking the Language of Worship in the Saiva Temple
Bridging Inter- and Intra-Generational Gaps Regarding the Role of Faith
Conclusion
Notes
References
5 Talking Saivism in the Temple’s Sunday School
Introduction
The Saiva School
The Year 9 Class
Class Format and Characteristics
Profile of the Research Participants
Tamil in the Home and Family
Tamil Outside the Home
De Facto Language Policy in Practice in the Year 9 Saiva Classroom
Translanguaging
Coma
Cooperation
Pacu’s Ass
Subversion
Conclusion
Note
References
6 Negotiating Lankan Tamil Youth Faith, Language, and Identity in the Temple
Introduction
Tamil Weekends
Young People’s Expressions of Tamilness and Hinduness in the Saiva Classroom
Religious Identities and Language
Interpreting Religion in an Exile Context
Saiva Funeral
Vegetarian Versus Meat
Ash Parcel
Belief Positioning and Syncretic Acts
Kind of Agnostic
Future Identities
Conclusion
References
7 Conclusion: The Evolving Koovil (Temple)
Introduction
The Lankan Tamil Hindu Diaspora
Language and Identity for Young Lankan Tamils
The Saiva Temple’s Policies in a Religiously Superdiverse Context
Implications for Language-Religion Ideology Theory and the Sociology of Language and Religion
What Does this Mean for Australia?
References
Index
