Singing the new Nepal

Abstract

Nepal's adoption of a new national anthem in 2007 reflected a decision to establish a new social and political order that was republican, federal and inclusive of the country's many minority communities. It came after a ten‐year internal conflict, and was followed by the abolition of the Shah monarchy that had ruled the country since the late eighteenth century. This article describes the historical and political context of the decision to replace the old anthem, the selection of the new anthem, and the debates that arose in the Nepali media and public sphere after its lyrics and the identity of its author were made known. The discussion refers to arguments made by Karen Cerulo about the relationship between the syntactic structure of national anthems and the stage reached in the process of political modernisation of the nation‐state in question, and provides some comparative perspectives on the Nepali case.

Simultaneous identities: ethnicity and nationalism in mother tongue education in Nepal*

“…This article, therefore, analyses language practices as a space where the concern is not only whether people have the right to speak different languages or the competence to do so but also about conditions in which values of different ethno‐linguistic identities are constructed (Heller ) and the ways in which they are performed within a given socio‐political context (Irvine and Gal ). In the empirical context of Nepal, this article contributes to the ongoing discussion on nationalism in Nepal (Burghart ; Gellner et al ; Hutt ; Onta ; Shneiderman ; Turin ) and affirms that the key characteristic of ethnic movements in Nepal is to open up spaces for plural notion of Nepali nationhood (Hangen ; Lawoti and Hangen ; Subba ).…”

Understanding Nepali Nationalism

“…Studies on Nepali nationalism were very limited until 1990 (Burghart ; Gaige ; Quigley ; Rose ); however, there has been a profusion of studies on the subject since then, mostly by anthropologists and political scientists (Chalmers ; Gellner et al ; Hachhethu ; Hutt ; Lawoti and Hangen ; Malagodi , ; Onta ; Rademacher ). One of the most prominent post‐1990 publications is an ethnographic collections that takes a long‐term view of the various processes of ethnic and national development and examines the ways that different political regimes have framed and attempted to control castes and ethnic groups (Gellner et al , originally published in 1997).…”

“…Other studies on Nepali nationalism appreciate the role of history, language, and culture in shaping how we are viewed and perceived by others. For example, Hutt () argues that Nepal's adoption of a new national anthem in 2007 reflected a decision to establish a new social and political order that was republican, federal, and inclusive of the country's many minority communities. Similarly, Malagodi () examines the complex relationship between law and politics, and emphasizes the role of cultural identity in making institutional choices relating to the framing and implementation of the Nepali constitution.…”

Social sanctions of leisure and tourism constraints in Nepal

“…There were also other contributing factors: for instance, the end of a decade-long internal conflict and subsequent social transformations; urbanisation and growth of cities; a growing consumer culture because of foreign employment and remittances, and the adoption of a secular and republican constitution in 2006. The above influences, together with globalisation and access to media and communications, have brought about a huge change in traditional values, practices and the structure of Nepali society which has been documented by a number of scholars (Gellner et al, 2016;Hutt, 2012;Lawoti and Hangen, 2013).…”