From Self-Help to Svapuruṣārth. Purposes and Production of Hindi advice books in the early 20th century

Abstract

Self-Help by Samuel Smiles was an instant success. As an international bestseller it re-defined the genre and was translated into many languages. In 1901 its Hindi version was published under the title Svapuruṣārth. But the author, Chedalal Sharma, went well beyond offering a mere translation of the English original, as he significantly altered some parts of the book and added whole new sections. This was not a singularity. The production of ‘useful’ literature in Hindi was promoted through governmental and private patronage at the time. And a significant number of Hindi publications in the early 1900s were inspired by or adapted from English self-help books.

Chedalal Sharma and others started out as readers of self-improvement literature. In becoming authors, they turned into agents for the project of changing and modelling society as a whole – and not just the individual. Their books promote character-traits, qualities and emotions that are propagated specifically for Indian readers as the basis for individual and professional progress. Through the process of translation and adaptation, they emancipate themselves from the English originals and enhance their message with new meaning. Analyzing Hindi advice books allows an exciting historical glimpse into the way moral guidelines and economies of personal improvement are set out. This paper also traces how ideas of national character, social status and civilizational superiority are (re-)negotiated in a colonized world.