Ila Nagar

The Kotis of Lucknow: Language, Gender and Sexuality Ila Nagar

This book explores the linguistic practices of a community of male sex workers who self-identify as kotis in Lucknow-India. Kotis switch their identities between heterosexual males and kotis, and this switch is most clearly manifest in their language choices. The data for this research was collected over four summers. Ethnographic methods including one-to-one interviews, focus group interviews and participant observation were used to collect speech data. The analysis of data is done using qualitative and quantitative sociolinguistic methodology. This book throws light on the lives of a highly stigmatized group with the hope that more research on such groups can help them live with more dignity.