Concealments and Exposures

Abstract This chapter is based on the premise that language is both expressive and constitutive of caste. It is in language that the most embedded and almost invisibly settled ideologies of caste can be seen—glimpses of which become evident if quotidian language is examined closely. Caste often lies in the ellipsis, the half-said, and the unspoken. Through attention to language, the chapter demonstrates that caste is illegible and does not demonstrate the kind of structure assumed in the English word “caste.” By drawing from examples in several Indian languages, particularly Gujarati, the chapter also shows how language works to hide and to reveal caste. The chapter draws particular attention to the language of the upper castes and the sophistry they use to find out about caste.