This dissertation examines the discursive construction and political deployment of a linguistically defined "Marathi" identity in relation to the breakup of Bombay State and the formation of Maharashtra State. It argues that while the political coalition that pressed the central government to form Maharashtra State was a unique and temporary alignment, the mobilization strategies and rhetorical tropes it employed have a longer history and continue to reverberate in contemporary Indian politics. Using aesthetically presented and mediated symbolic and performative articulations of identity, the United Maharashtra movement attempted to discursively create a politically viable regional-linguistic identity while attempting to elide serious differences within this category. These discursive and performative strategies drew on existing common-sense notions and images of Maratha history and "Marathi-ness" which also have a contested history.

Identity relationships continue to be contested, constructed, deployed, and re-related in contemporary Maharashtra. These processes highlight the presence of multiple identities that can become politically salient around particular political demands. By focusing on rhetoric and identity politics, this project moves beyond the region vs. nation rubrics in which linguistic state formation has traditionally been considered to address connections between discursive identity construction and state formation. It argues that the emotive force of identity politics comes not simply from elite manipulation of symbols or pride in history, but from people choosing to respond to aesthetic, emotive, performative deployments of cultural and historical images.