A Note on Music
Before each lecture, I will play one or two songs/music
videos, which we will be discussing in week 10.
Today’s songs were mixed by DJ Pathaan.
For more Pathaan and Asian Underground:
www.bbc.co.uk/asiannetwork/underground/
M.K. Gandhi & Hind Swaraj
Week 4, Lecture 1
Hi, I’m Vinayak Chaturvedi
…and I’m a historian
• My office is 463 Krieger Hall
• My Office Hours: Wednesday 12:302:00 & by appointment
• Email: vinayak@uci.edu
(Please feel free to stop by for a chat…)
Today, we will discuss…
• M.K. Gandhi’s background (see pp. lxv-lxvii)
• The historical context in which Hind Swaraj
was written (xxix-l)
• The form or literary genre of HS (l-li)
• The definition/s of Hind and Swaraj (lxxvii)
• The central argument of HS (lii-lviii)
(Please note HS=Hind Swaraj)
Before we move on to Gandhi…
•
1.
2.
3.
4.
Please remember what DOING includes:
Political Participation
Resistance
Public Expression
Ethical Interactions
(Julia Reinhard Lupton, “An Introduction to the
Humanities Core Course,” Course Guide &
Writer’s Handbook, p. 1.)
(SophoclesKleistGandhi…)
Humanities
Thinking-Making-Doing
DOING
Sophocles
Kleist
Gandhi
Politics
Resistance
Public
Expression
Ethics
What do we do with a pen?
The writers we will cover…
1. M.K. Gandhi (South Africa): Three Lectures
2. V. D. Savarkar (Great Britain) : Two Lectures
3. Ranchod Vira (India):
One Lecture
4. vc (US): One Lecture
Two Themes to Consider
when reading the authors
1. Public/Counterpublic
Gandhi: “It is not without hesitation that the
translation of HS is submitted to the
PUBLIC.” (p. 5)
2. Argument/Counterargument
Gandhi: “[Dialogue] is the best method for
treating difficult subjects.” (p.6)
To help you read HS, consider the
following resources:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
“Note on the History of the text” (p. lxiii)
Chronology of Gandhi’s life (p. lxv)
Glossary (p. lxxvi-)
Preface to English Translation (p. 5)
Foreward by Gandhi (p. 9)
Appendix—Books Gandhi read (p. 120)
Appendix—Testimonies (pp. 121-)
Supplementary Readings (Optional, of course)
A Brief Background
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Full Name: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Born in 1869 in Gujarat (Western India)
Privileged Family (caste, class, status)
Religious Family: Hinduism, Jainism
Studies Law
London: 1888-1891
South Africa: 1893-1914
India: returns in 1915
1947: India & Pakistan become independent
1948: Gandhi assassinated
Hind Swaraj
• Written in Gujarati in 1909 while
returning to South Africa from
England
• Originally published in the
Indian Opinion
(800 subscriptions; ~8000 readers)
• Gujarati text banned in India
• Original English title Indian Home Rule
• Translation of the Gujarati by Gandhi
• Gujarati version seized by the British (see
page 5, footnote 2)*
The Form of HS
Q. What do I mean by “form”?
A. The shape and structure of an object ; the design,
structure, or pattern of work.
HS is a dialogue between 2 individuals
1. Newspaper Editor—Gandhi
2. Newspaper Reader—Unknown figure
or a composite of several individuals
(Note: What is the role of newspapers in
public life?)
(See page 6, footnote 3: P. Mehta, S.
Krishnavarma, V.D. Savarkar)
Why did Gandhi choose this form?
“To make it easy reading, the chapters are
written in the form of a dialogue
between the reader and the editor.”
(p. 11)
[Also reference to Bhagavad Gita, but doesn’t refer to
any Indian philosophical discourse on dialogue]
More on Dialogue…
“These views are mine, and yet not mine.”
(p. 10)
“If the readers…who may see the following
chapters will pass their criticism on to me, I
shall feel obliged.” (11)
“The only motive is to serve my country, to find
out the Truth, and to follow it.” (11)
(What does Gandhi mean by Truth?)
Why has HS been written
according to Gandhi?
• “My countrymen believe that they should
adopt modern civilisation and modern
methods of violence to drive out the English.
HS has been written to show that they are
following a suicidal policy, and that, if they
would but revert to their own glorious
civilisation, either the English would adopt the
latter and become Indianised or find their
occupation in India gone.” ( 7)
The book was banned!
• “To me, the seizure constitutes further
condemnation of the civilization
represented by the British Government.
There is in the book not a trace of
approval of violence in any shape or
form. The methods of the British
Government are, undoubtedly, severely
condemned.” (p. 7)*
Why do people read
banned books?
To create a counterpublic…
Q. Why is that important?
A. In order to generate popular support…
1. …against British imperialism
2. …for Indian nationalism
(3. …against modern civilization)*
A bit about the title
Hind=India in this context
Hind the root for Hindu and India
All of the above derived
from Indus River
Swaraj (swa=self) + (raj=rule)
The root “swa” is translated as “home” by Gandhi
The title Hind Swaraj becomes Indian Home Rule
More on swaraj
A purpose of the book was to clarify the meaning of
swaraj
(swa=self) + (raj=rule)= self-rule
(swa=home) + (raj=rule)=home-rule
(swa=self) + (raj=government)=self-government
Here is the tricky part: Gandhi adds “improvement” to the
understanding of “raj”. Hence, swaraj also means
self-improvement!!
Indian Self Rule
Indian Self Government
Indian Home Rule
Indian Self-Improvement
The Historical Context in
which HS was written
1. Modern Civilization
2. Politics of South Africa
3. The Politics of Expatriate Indians
4. The Indian Nationalist Movement
**Consider Gandhi’s definition of civilization:
“that mode of conduct which points out to
man the path of duty.” (p. xix)
Intellectual Context
• Western Sources
• Indian Sources
(See page 120 for books
recommended by Gandhi)