Imperialism

World literature is replete with many texts that depict the imperialists using hypocritical language as an oppressive device for intimidating their subjects. The oppressors pretended to be the civilizers by inculcating the idea of “Benevolent Colonization” into the minds of the oppressed. In this paper, the researchers investigate how situational and linguistic contexts affect the meanings of utterances in George Orwell’s selected novels. It is aimed to remove the gaps in the multicultural world by scrutinizing the power of language pragmatically. The methodology is qualitative based on Grice’s theory of implicature. The novels under investigation both violate and adhere to the four maxims of Grice’s theory of Conversational Implicature. The findings of the paper indicate that language can be used as a suppressive weapon for supporting imperialist objectives or hamper satisfactory human relations, and that positive gifts of imperialism come with the caveat that they are being achieved at the cost of exploiting the oppressed.

This review article examines the underpinning of the little-researched, influential elements that create linguistic injustice in the specific contexts of linguistic imperialism through standardization. To this end, with a review of critical views that includes argumentation and discussion of theoretical and empirical studies, we further aim to highlight linguistic injustice in writing for publishing. The domination of the English language as a lingua academia has not happened neutrally and can create unjust and unequal situations. In knowledge construction, the prosperity of researchers and academics is tied to international publication, and this action supports globalization, individualism, and standardization in favor of native English users. The domination of the English language in academic settings may be a hegemonic practice of native Anglophones to maintain power.  In this review, we underline the possibilities for privileged communities to pinpoint linguistic inequality and injustice.  The nature of academia should be liberal and liberating; however, in reality, academic settings are politically partisan and at the service of the powerful and wealthy. Still, there is slim hope that the system can change, and one of such profound changes may happen with equal access to resources and mentors for marginalized communities. In this case, the minorities’ voices may also be heard and respected globally.

This paper discusses some key points in the philosophical, political and economic thought of the famous Indian Muslim poet Dr. Mohammad Iqbal. Iqbal sought to reform the Muslim identity and the wider Islamic world in order to deal with the Western challenge. He was deeply perturbed by the ideological domination of the East by the West in the political, cultural and social spheres. His political and economic perceptions, as indicated in his poems, seek to revive the self-confidence and creativity in the Muslim Ummah (Community). Iqbal exhorts the Muslims to realise their identity and selfhood (Khudi) to confront the Western challenge. Iqbal’s politico-economic thought is tinged with his dislike of capitalism and colonial rule. As an anti-dote to these elements, Iqbal speaks positively of socialism and its main proponents in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century although he rejects the atheistic form of socialism. Iqbal also purposes a reconstruction of Islamic thought in order to make it compatible with the demands of the modern world. All in all, Iqbal’s philosophy reveals an eclectic mixture of Islamic modernism, anti-imperialism, pan-Islamism and a desire for a socially equitable society within an Islamic framework.