Shaping Young Minds: Advertisements in Urdu Children’s Periodicals from late colonial North India

Abstract

Urdu children’s periodicals from the late colonial period to Independence provide a valuable archive for exploring the intersection of identity formation, pedagogy, and consumerism. This paper focuses on three influential twentieth-century Urdu children’s magazines – Phūl (Lahore, est. 1909), Ghunchah (Bijnor, est. 1922), and Payām-e Taʿlīm (Delhi, est. 1926) – and comparatively analyses their use of advertisements. By investigating the content and placement of these paratextual elements, I examine advertising strategies across the periodicals, highlighting shifts in their cultural and economic priorities. These advertisements, as central to both the financial survival of the magazines and the shaping of readerships, provide critical insights into broader familial and cultural consumption patterns before and after Independence. By focusing on advertisements, the paper underscores their epistemological and methodological value as historical sources, reflecting broader social transformations as youth were increasingly considered active participants in consumer culture.