Konkani is spoken mostly in the state of Goa and also by people of Goan origin in the states of Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra and in other parts of India. Though 2nd Century inscriptions in Konkani have been found as well as references to the language in texts as old as the 13th Century, Konkani got added to the list of national languages only in August, 1992. It became the official language of Goa after prolonged agitation in 1987.
The slow growth and late recognition of Konkani has much to do with the history of Goa, which was under Portuguese rule till 1961. Portuguese was thus the official language and it was spoken widely. So was English. Because of its proximity and dependence on Maharashtra (the size of Goa is just about an average district in other states), Marathi was fairly well spread. So, Konkani could not develop its individual identity. The Portuguese rulers deliberately tried to impede the development of the local language and literature. Absence of a separate script for Konkani also hindered its development. Konkani used to be written (still is) in several scripts including Roman, Malayalam, Kannada and Perso-Arabic. However, since 1987, Devanagari has been taken as the official script.
Though the first printing press in India was established in Goa in 1557, the first publication from Goa titled Gazeta de Goa in Portuguese was published in 1821. The earliest Konkani journal was not born in Goa as one would expect. It was published from Poona in Maharashtra in 1889 and was christened Udentechem Sallok. It was bilingual, published in Konkani and Portuguese languages. Its editor was Edward Bruno DSouza. It started as a monthly and then became a weekly. It closed down after five years.
In 1895 came O Liberal, the journal of Aleixo Casimiro Lobo in Portuguese, English and Konkani. It was the first journal out of Goa to accord any space to Konkani. Several Konkani newspapers and periodicals have been published in Goa in different scripts.Vauraddeancho Ixtt (Workers’ Friend), a weekly magazine in Roman script was published in 1933. It is published till date. In 1907, B.F. Cabral started in Mumbai a daily newspaper in Konkani titled Sanjechem Noketra. In 1908, Honarato and F.X. Furtado started O Goano. With the publication of the monthly, Dor , in 1914 in Karachi by Father Ludovico Pereira, a new era began in Konkani Journalism. This monthly was later on edited by Father Moreno de Souza. With the liberation of Goa a new era dawned in Konkani Journalism. Felicio Cardozo came out with his weekly Goycho Sad in Roman script. Jagdish Vagh, Amrut Kansar Manoharrai Sardesai, A N Mhambro, Suhas Dalal, Gurunath Kelekar, Yeshwant Palekar, Chandrakant Keni, Suresh Kakodkar, Hema Naik and Datta S. Naik came out with periodicals. Zag by Ravindra Kelekar is one of the best magazines still published monthly.
A great event in the intellectual life of Konkani speakers was the establishment of the daily, Rashtramat in 1963. Though it was a Marathi daily it carried a supplement in Konkani every Sunday titled Somar and prominent writers contributed to it. The publication of Sunaparant, a Konkani daily in Devanagari script in 1987 is an important milestone for Konkani Journalism. Goa has had several English language publications, which include: O Heraldo (The Herald), Goa’s oldest newspaper, formerly a Portuguese language daily owned by Fernandes Publications, a local printing enterprise that grew out of a stationery shop, The Navhind Times, published by the mining house of the Dempos since 1963; and the Gomantak Times, which changed hands from its earlier owners from the mining house of the Chowgules to the politically linked Pawar family, based in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra. In addition,
The Times of India and The Indian Express are also distributed to urban areas from nearby Bombay and Bangalore. A Goan edition ofThe Times of India started publication in June 2008.
The lone English monthly is Goa Today, edited by Vinayak Naik. Other English publications include The Goan, Goa Messenger and Goan Observer.
Published in Vidura, January-March 2015
(The author heads the Eastern India campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Odisha. This article is the eleventh in a series on the history of regional language journalism in India that has appeared in this journal.)
See more at: http://pressinstitute.in/history-of-konkani-journalism/#sthash.mfIA7O4m.dpuf
The slow growth and late recognition of Konkani has much to do with the history of Goa, which was under Portuguese rule till 1961. Portuguese was thus the official language and it was spoken widely. So was English. Because of its proximity and dependence on Maharashtra (the size of Goa is just about an average district in other states), Marathi was fairly well spread. So, Konkani could not develop its individual identity. The Portuguese rulers deliberately tried to impede the development of the local language and literature. Absence of a separate script for Konkani also hindered its development. Konkani used to be written (still is) in several scripts including Roman, Malayalam, Kannada and Perso-Arabic. However, since 1987, Devanagari has been taken as the official script.
Though the first printing press in India was established in Goa in 1557, the first publication from Goa titled Gazeta de Goa in Portuguese was published in 1821. The earliest Konkani journal was not born in Goa as one would expect. It was published from Poona in Maharashtra in 1889 and was christened Udentechem Sallok. It was bilingual, published in Konkani and Portuguese languages. Its editor was Edward Bruno DSouza. It started as a monthly and then became a weekly. It closed down after five years.
In 1895 came O Liberal, the journal of Aleixo Casimiro Lobo in Portuguese, English and Konkani. It was the first journal out of Goa to accord any space to Konkani. Several Konkani newspapers and periodicals have been published in Goa in different scripts.Vauraddeancho Ixtt (Workers’ Friend), a weekly magazine in Roman script was published in 1933. It is published till date. In 1907, B.F. Cabral started in Mumbai a daily newspaper in Konkani titled Sanjechem Noketra. In 1908, Honarato and F.X. Furtado started O Goano. With the publication of the monthly, Dor , in 1914 in Karachi by Father Ludovico Pereira, a new era began in Konkani Journalism. This monthly was later on edited by Father Moreno de Souza. With the liberation of Goa a new era dawned in Konkani Journalism. Felicio Cardozo came out with his weekly Goycho Sad in Roman script. Jagdish Vagh, Amrut Kansar Manoharrai Sardesai, A N Mhambro, Suhas Dalal, Gurunath Kelekar, Yeshwant Palekar, Chandrakant Keni, Suresh Kakodkar, Hema Naik and Datta S. Naik came out with periodicals. Zag by Ravindra Kelekar is one of the best magazines still published monthly.
A great event in the intellectual life of Konkani speakers was the establishment of the daily, Rashtramat in 1963. Though it was a Marathi daily it carried a supplement in Konkani every Sunday titled Somar and prominent writers contributed to it. The publication of Sunaparant, a Konkani daily in Devanagari script in 1987 is an important milestone for Konkani Journalism. Goa has had several English language publications, which include: O Heraldo (The Herald), Goa’s oldest newspaper, formerly a Portuguese language daily owned by Fernandes Publications, a local printing enterprise that grew out of a stationery shop, The Navhind Times, published by the mining house of the Dempos since 1963; and the Gomantak Times, which changed hands from its earlier owners from the mining house of the Chowgules to the politically linked Pawar family, based in the neighbouring state of Maharashtra. In addition,
The Times of India and The Indian Express are also distributed to urban areas from nearby Bombay and Bangalore. A Goan edition ofThe Times of India started publication in June 2008.
The lone English monthly is Goa Today, edited by Vinayak Naik. Other English publications include The Goan, Goa Messenger and Goan Observer.
Published in Vidura, January-March 2015
(The author heads the Eastern India campus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, Odisha. This article is the eleventh in a series on the history of regional language journalism in India that has appeared in this journal.)
See more at: http://pressinstitute.in/history-of-konkani-journalism/#sthash.mfIA7O4m.dpuf
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