Abstract

This article examines literary and cultural translations in the domain of thoughts on education by following the trajectories of intellectual networks among South Asian and German scholars. The main protagonists of this entangled intellectual history are Syed Abid Husain (1896–1978) and his teacher Eduard Spranger (1882–1963) and other actors who thought beyond British imperial educational ideology and practices. Husain engaged with the original writings of German educationists and translated Spranger's canonical text Psychologie des Jugendalters into Urdu as Nafsiyat-i unfuvan-i shabab. This text showcases a deep concern with the subject of youth that simultaneously exhibits immense potential but also shows glimpses of qualities inimical to national development. By drawing attention to how concepts, which are considered to be culturally and historically specific to German history, were translated into Urdu and Muslim cultural contexts in South Asia, this study seeks to arrive at a finer understanding of the entangled nature of Indo-German intellectual history that extends beyond nationalist frames.

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