Paoi Hwang's Reiew of Tagore nationalism and cosmopolitanism: Perceptions contestations and contemporary relevance (original) (raw)
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TAGORE ON NATIONALISM AND INDIAN SOCIETY
The question of Rabindranath Tagore on nationalism has been a much debated among the scholars. The various opinions about Tagore's 'anti-nationalism', 'internationalism', 'ambivalent nationalism' could be understood through a closer observation of Tagore's understanding of the history of Indian society and civilization at large, as also his holistic approach to humanity. Though Tagore condemned nationalism, he wanted for the Indian independence through some of his politically motivated songs. Although he supported Indian nationalists but he publicly criticized European nationalism and imperialism. Tagore firmly emphasized on racial and religious unity of India. He urged that all Indians have to unite above their race, class and religion. They should give up their differences, and stand above the dusty politics, of caste and ethnicity in order to bring the development of India. Tagore argued that India's immediate problems were social and cultural and not political. India must continuously struggle to resolve her burden of heterogeneity, by evolving out of these contradictions, which would be a great synthesis of all.
IJFMR, 2023
Rabindranath Tagore, the multifaceted Indian poet, philosopher and artist, critically investigated the origin and evolution of [Western] nationalism and surmised the dangers of its adoption in the Indian anti-colonial struggle. Thus, he developed a unique perspective on nationalism that challenged the prevalent nationalist ideas of the prominent political thinkers and provided with a nuanced understanding of the intricacies of India's struggle for Independence and the subsequent nation-building processes. His concept of nationalism immediately became a matter of great controversy and many people even started regarding him as 'anti-nationalist.' This paper aims to investigate and tackle the controversy regarding the relevance of Tagore's nationalism both in the colonial period and the post-colonial period. It will try to emphasize how his concept of nationalism contrasts with that of Mahatma Gandhi regarding its role as an anticolonial force, and also with that of Benedict Anderson regarding its importance in shaping national and cultural identities, and international relations in the post-colonial era. By focusing on his essay on 'Nationalism' and his three renowned political novels, such as, Gora, The Home and the World, and Four Chapters, the paper intends to analyze the value of Tagore's ideas in the context of the anti-colonial struggles and their validity in the context of the contemporary socio-political and cultural movements, and give an insight of his philosophical conception on the discourse of nationalism.
Book Review: Tagore and Nationalism
The volume, Tagore and Nationalism, edited by K. L. Tuteja and Kaustav Chakraborty, presents a broad gamut of works by scholars from universities in India, Bangladesh, Scotland, and Italy. As the preface articulates, the conversations around Tagore's contribution to the discourse of nationalism emerged out of a critical need "to be inspired by Tagore's unshaken faith on the essential goodness of humankind that would restore the 'human' to this desolated world of antagonists and combatants" (p. vii) at a time when "the world seems to be getting fragmented by the fundamentalist designer of the narrow walls" (p. vii). Part I has eight chapters, each looking at a specific site of ambivalence. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya introduces the idea of "antinomies" in Tagore's nationalism, the jostling between a state and a society, between competition, and cooperation, where he considers a nation-state to be a mechanical organization, as opposed to a society, which has a more organic character. While Bhattacharya establishes the evolving nature of Tagore's ideologies, Krishna Sen defends Tagore's nationalism by pointing out the coexistence of Anglophilia and a disdain for the colonial state, ascribing it to Tagore's "multistranded background" (p. 35). Citing from Tagore's essay, "Nation ki?," Sukanta Chaudhuri notes Tagore chooses to retain the English word in the title of his essay due to his inability of finding a Bengali equivalent term. Chaudhuri explains that unlike the Western concept of a militant power-hungry nation-state, and the disjuncture between "private morality" and "public expediency" that it necessitates, for Tagore, the "political is the ethical" (p. 69). Tilottama Misra offers a critique of the limitations in Tagore's views of linguistic nationalism and echoes Krishna Sen on differences between an "English Tagore" and a "Bengali Tagore" (p. 32). Misra points out that despite promoting notions of inclusion and diversity in his English essays and international lectures, one cannot overlook the exclusions of India's Northeastern states-even "in his well-known
INTERROGATING NATIONALISM: LOCATING INDIA IN TAGORE'S NATIONALISM
The debate on constituting India as a nation has been a deeply contentious issue in the decades both preceding and following Indian independence in 1947. Tagore, a multifaceted genius and a versatile figure, is one of the most reverential names in the literary-cultural world in India as well as abroad. Tagore was a great visionary. He observed and critiqued the idea of nation at a time when most of the Indian people were steeped deeply in the intoxicated wave of patriotism. His foresightedness was greatly misunderstood and critiqued by then nationalists. This paper revisits Rabindranath's essay Nationalism to analyze how the writer's views contribute to the creation of a nation in Indian context and offers an alternative framework to the idea of a nation. The paper further attempts to locate Tagore's idea of nation in the present context and concludes by establishing the fact that Rabindranath Tagore's vision has become more appropriate and relevant than ever in today's violent world of intolerance, vengeance and fanaticism.
Tagore : Seductions and Perils of Nationalism
2010
Nationalism, implicated as it is in the modern imagination, is a deeply contested idea. So is nation – also referred to as an “imagined community” – which evolved as a sociopolitical institution, fairly recently, and which is characterised by either a unifying cultural signifier or an overarching ideology. Empirical studies reveal that the idea of nationalism often originates with the elite or with an aspiring middle-class, the rest of the society are appropriated into it. Tagore dismissed such nationalism as “the organised self-interest of a people,” which is “least human and least spiritual.” He saw it as a constant threat to humanity. This paper argues that Tagore’s diatribe against nationalism is a recurrent motif in all his writings and lectures. For him the nation is distinctively and exclusively Western. He developed an alternative conception of modernity which would take into account inclusive and synergic interaction between cultures that can take the world towards harmony ...