The Case of the Missing Character

• In Event: Interrogating the Unicode Project: Language, Design, and Identity

Abstract

In late 2000, an email was sent out to the Unicode Consortium mailing list asking about the missing Bengali character khanda ta. The initial email regarding khanda ta received a reply saying it was an infrequently used symbol and could arguably be represented through complex combinations of existing symbols within the Unicode Standard. It was therefore unnecessary to include.

The missing character khanda ta would go on to become a decade-long discussion between members of the Unicode Consortium; Bengali-computing volunteers from Bangladesh, West Bengal, and the diaspora; and occasional institutional interlocutors from industry and the Bangla Academy. Using ethnographic and archival methods, I trace the symbolic importance of the khanda ta character to these stakeholders, and what it illuminates about the politics of nationalism and language in the digital age. While the character was an example of technical redundancy and mob-mentality for its detractors, it came to represent the need for preservation and completeness of the Bengali identity in the digital environment for its proponents. Eventually, khanda ta was encoded — a singular victory for Bengali-computing volunteers — but persists as a meme and mistake in the minds of Unicode members.

This project is ostensibly about Bangladesh, the Bengali language, and its script, but this case bears similarity to many post-colonial states who’ve sought to establish their national identity in the digital environment. More broadly, it engages with questions of how and whose values are embedded in code, and what factors can cause those values to shift.

Author

• Anushah Hossain, UC Berkeley, Energy and Resources