| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 108.4 | The History Cooperative

Francesca Orsini. The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism. New York: Oxford University Press. 2002. Pp. x, 486. $39.95.
In the work under review, Francesca Orsini probes the relationship between the Hindi political and literary public spheres between 1920 and 1940. There are chapters on a history of Hindi in the interwar years, followed by chapters on publicizing Hindi, Hindi's engagement of history during this time, an analysis of the participation of women in the Hindi public sphere, and a final chapter on the Hindi political sphere. Orsini uses the terms of Jürgen Habermas's work on the public sphere without engaging in his theoretical assumptions to any great extent. This has not prevented her from writing an extended—sometimes much too extended—treatment of the way in which Hindi became political before World War II.	1
To a degree, Orsini seeks to continue the fine work of Vasudha Dalmia on the nationalization of Hindi in the nineteenth century. The first chapter is really a "history of Hindi" between the wars wherein Orsini discusses publication strategies, audiences, and the creation of Hindi as a modern language. In many ways, this 100-page chapter is a reference book unto itself, with many cross references to other chapters. Although comprehensive, it is also very difficult for the nonspecialist reader.	. . .

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