Periodicals as Archives: Book, Services and Goods Advertisements in the Hindi Public Sphere (early Twentieth Century)

Abstract

South Asian print cultures shaped reading publics and modern identities across British India. This panel turns to the literal margins of regional periodicals to explore what paratextual elements may tell us about the formation of not only national, but also (trans)/regional and global networks formed through advertisements. Many South Asian periodicals of the early twentieth century carried numerous advertisements of print materials, services and goods. When they are not stripped-off prior to being archived or digitized, they form a rich archive to scholars studying nation-formation and the fashioning of religious, caste, class, gender and other identities. This panel is directed at researchers who engage with periodicals in various South Asian languages published in colonial India. It seeks to explore the role advertisements may have played in shaping socio-economical, socio-political, religious-cultural, domestic, national and transnational identities and sensibilities.