Negotiating Linguistic and Religious Diversity: A Tamil Hindu Temple in Australia

Description

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. 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