Mar 05 2023 to Mar 05 2023 6:30 p.m.

EVENT HAS ENDED

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

The dawn of literary modernity and linguistic movements in the early 20th century brought Indian scripts and languages to the forefront of the national question. A national script had to be standardized, uniform, legible, and easy to print and circulate. The printing process and needs of a modern language had to be balanced with centuries of tradition and written practice. The reshaping of the contours of metal type, the radical invention of the typewriter, and political script reform movements all affected how languages were written and printed. These debates around script reckoned with both the past, and visions of the future. In this talk, Karthik Malli explores the ways technology, typography, and politics intersected, and the changes to writing systems that came from these encounters. He explores the case of Malayalam, a language where these tensions brought about far reaching script reforms, in an effort to drastically reduce its complexity for the modern era. This session will be followed with a Q&A with the audience.