May 21, 2007

Oxford U. Press Pulls Geographical Dictionary After Outcry in India

Oxford University Press has suspended sales of a gazetteer published in 2005 after an outcry over errors that was led by historians and government officials in the southern state of Karnataka, the Khaleej Times reports. Among other errors, the book, the Concise Dictionary of World Place Names, says that the local language in Bangalore, Karnataka’s capital, is Bengali. Actually the language is Kannada. Bengali is spoken in Bangladesh and neighboring regions of northeastern India.

The episode, in which simple factual errors occasion an international dispute, points up the extraordinary sensitivity in India to anything that might be perceived as a slight on the country’s history, its cultures and religions, or other elements of its rich traditions.

The incident resembles in some ways what happened a few years ago to a book about a revered 17th-century Hindu king by a professor at Macalester College. The book’s findings drew harsh criticism from Hindu activists, who in 2004 attacked a research center that had helped the American professor with the book. An Indian court ruled only last month that the scholar could not be prosecuted for stirring up sectarian strife with the book.

Like the gazetteer, the professor’s book was published by Oxford University Press. And like the gazetteer, the book was swiftly yanked from the Indian market by its publisher. —Andrew Mytelka

Comments

1. “The episode, in which simple factual errors occasion an international dispute, points up the extraordinary sensitivity in India to anything that might be perceived as a slight on the country’s history, its cultures and religions, or other elements of its rich traditions.”

   I wonder why “sensitivity” is the reason you provide as to why people were vocal about the error? Suppose that a gazetteer stated that in the United States, French is the official language. Would people not call to attention such a mistake?

   Furthermore, there’s more reason to protest such an error. After all, there is a thing called fact checking. It’s not that hard to dig up the fact that Kannada is spoken, much like it is not difficult to find that the language in Italy is Italian.

   “The incident resembles in some ways what happened a few years ago to a book about a revered 17th-century Hindu king by a professor at Macalester College. The book’s findings drew harsh criticism from Hindu activists,”

   You are conflating two incidents that are NOT similar in content or manner. The latter is an attempt by right wing Hindus to hold power over the production, framing, and perspective of history and religion. It is not the same as people asking for factual accuracy about a language and region, a fact that you could even find on the Web.

   — Desi Italiana    May 21, 05:46 PM    #

2. I am sure the resemblance between Bangla and Bangalore has make that author to do this kind of mistake.

   — Kan Chandras    May 22, 10:01 AM    #

3. It’s a shame that people in India had to protest before the OUP suspended sale of the book. Factual errors such as the one listed should have triggered the press to withdraw the book from the market and run it through a complete check for accuracy. By calling the reader response “sensitivity” The Chronicle suggests that factual errors in a reference book are acceptable if the error is in reference to a country such as India. People in India who pointed out the error have done a great service to help OUP save its reputation, if it has still one.

   — suraprath    May 22, 10:10 AM    #

4. It is not a question of “sensitivity”. It is a question of correcting an error. The other incident that you are talking about is of absolutely a different nature.

   — Bindu Bhatt    May 22, 11:36 AM    #

5. I agree with the above comments regarding the wording used by The Chronicle. What is at stake is not just the dissemination of false information but also the profit (money, careers etc.) that results from books published about people who may not benefit from them.

   In addition, the weight given to Euro/American academic publications often puts the “native” at odds with the false information. One is then put in a position to have to “disprove” something erroneous propogated by someone higher up in the global or academic power structure. I have seen this happen before.

   Finally, the students or whatever audience the book has also lose as their knowledge is limited by mistakes like this.

   — Betty    May 22, 11:55 PM    #

6. “And like the gazetteer, the book was swiftly yanked from the Indian
   market by its publisher.”

   But not from the rest of the world, so it is still on sale elsewhere, despite factual inaccuracies? Is this an example of poor wording of the report by the Chronicle. or some sort of Orientalism by OUP which will continue to sell the book to foreigners, because they are too ‘civilised’ to burn down something in protest, and anyway India is not important enough to worry about correcting ‘facts’?

   — Ami Bangla Na    May 31, 12:14 AM    #

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