Siddhartha

The narrative traverses the life of the conspicuously named Brahmin son, Siddhartha. The eponymous protagonist (the name plays on the birth name of the Buddha)

Set in the 6th century BCE in the kingdom of Kapilavastu, it is structured like a Bildungsroman, a typically German literary genre, that traces the moral and psychological development of a protagonist, who goes in search of life’s questions, from childhood to adulthood. The novel’s twelve chapters are divided into two parts – the first is dedicated to Romain Rolland, whose writings on Eastern Philosophy impacted Hesse, and the second to Hesse’s cousin Wilhelm Gundert, a scholar of East Asian religions and languages.

The narrative traverses the life of the conspicuously named Brahmin son, Siddhartha. The eponymous protagonist (the name plays on the birth name of the Buddha) embarks on an inward journey with his childhood friend Govinda, prompted by nagging restlessness and a desire for self-realisation. Through a layered interplay of historical fact and fiction Hermann Hesse creates the figure of the eternal prodigal son who breaks free of familial bonds and authority to strike his own path.

This figure is not to be seen as an aberration, for Hesse’s oeuvre is replete with the proverbial Auβenseiter (Outsider), as the protagonist. Yet, why did Hesse choose to place his protagonist in ancient Indian antiquity along with the living Buddha? Was this an affirmation of his break with his parent’s Swabian pietism and turn to indic religions? Ever since its publication, scholarship on this novel is replete with diverse viewpoints on this issue, while there is unanimity on the autobiographical content in his work. In fact, Hesse is seen as an author who wrote his life into his fiction. Approaching the novel from this perspective, it becomes evident that the apocalyptic reality of the first World War, in conjunction with Hesse’s biography and existential crisis, did impact its conception.

Hesse set off on his journey in 1911, expecting to visit Java, Bali and Sri Lanka, followed by a trip to southern India, from where he would sail back home to Europe. But a severe stomach ailment after his trip to the Indonesian islands rendered him immobile, and he had to give up his plans to go to southern India.

Hesse’s journey left him amazed but disappointed, explains Kämpchen, as the author did not find that idealized version of India during his trip to Indonesia or Sri Lanka (which in Hesse’s view were part of India).

When “Siddhartha” was published in autumn 1922, it was not exactly a failure, but did not immediately become very popular either. Literary circles in Germany partly viewed it as sentimental and kitschy.

It achieved global popularity decades later, after an English translation of the book by Hilda Rosenau was published, says Jyoti Sabharwal. According to her, the book became popular following the 1960s student movement in Europe, which spread to North America and parts of Asia.

It gained cult status with the Woodstock generation, with young people who protested the war in Vietnam and the conservative norms of their parents. “At a global level, it was a kind of a text which became the novel of the counterculture of the ’60s and the ’70s,” she adds.

“Siddhartha” then joined the ranks of other hippy classics, such as “The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead” (1964) by Timothy Leary, “The Way of Zen” (1957) by Alan Watts or “On the Road” (1957) by Jack Kerouac.

Indian universities’ departments of German Studies started including “Siddhartha” on their reading lists right after its publication in 1922, according to Delhi University scholar Sabharwal. (The first department of German Studies in India was founded in 1914 at the University of Pune, in western India.)

Sales also took off in India following the publication of the English version. Equally popular was the 1972 film adaption of the novel. Directed by US filmmaker Conrad Brooks, the English-language film starred Indian actors Shashi Kapoor, Simi Garewal and Romesh Kapoor.

Translations of the book have experienced a boom following the foundation of the Hermann Hesse Society in Thalassery, Kerala, in 2005. “Siddhartha” has been translated into several Indian languages, including Malayalam, Punjabi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali and Marathi.