Review of The Poet and His World: Critical Essays on Rabindranath Tagore by Murari Prasad (original) (raw)

Rabindranath Tagore: A Reappraisal of His Universality and Relevance

Rabindranath Tagore stands as a millennium in himself reflecting the ancient Indian wisdom through the raptures of his lyrics and mystic vision. His metaphysical bent of mind was quite rooted to the realities of his time inasmuch as he served as an anchor of intellectual moorings upon which the emerging nation state was to set foot on to shape a new course of journey. As a liberal humanist he advocated for Inclusive nationalism. The national anthem itself speaks of universality of Indian thought. He crystallised the Indian Renaissance of new awakening in the 19 th century via the path of Bengal Renaissance which first stimulated all the Indian vernaculars of a promise of lofty creative potentials. Tagor's international repute as the first noble Laureate of Asia helped the subalterns to gain a voice during freedom struggle. Though the English translation of his poems and other literary works lost the vitality of language, the mellifluous rhyming quality, lyrical beauty and the word-magic but the power of his vision continues to be a source of great inspiration for whoever reads them. This paper is attempted to illumine on Tagore's universality as a poet-seer and his relevance in modern time when the world is still reeling under indeterminacy of post modern fluidity that continues to witness global terrorism, religious hatred, racism, rampant corruption and discrimination of various sorts. Hence, it is worth that the myriad minded man, 'the East of Suez', may be reviewed afresh for his universality and relevance ever.

Rabindranath and Rabindranath Tagore : Home, World, History.

History and Theory, Theme issue 53, December 2015, Wesleyan University, 2015

This article, through a close reading of Rabindranath Tagore's writings on history, tries to develop his theory of history and establish the character of his historical consciousness. Tagore's philosophy of history is distinguished from Western models of historical thinking and is resistant to aligning with nationalist and revivalistic narratives that speak only of one culture, one nation, and one community. The article works out a theoretical premise based on Tagore's engagement with time, historical distance, the everyday, history as life-view, historical fiction, historicality in literature, and the notion of the historical-now or presentism. Substantiated by the notion of a "poet-historian," Tagore's historical theory works at the limits of "global history," which is now often misappropriated through the principles of unifocality and bounded rationality. The article develops Tagore's sense of itihasa that frees history from the univocality of world history, creates its own "worlding," its historicality, enriching and disturbing our notions of global history.

Rabindranath Tagore at 150: Representations and Misrepresentations

openDemocracy, 2011

"The Bengali poet, writer and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) remains a unique, though still under-recognised genius. Tagore’s cultural production was vast, covering poetry, prose and plays; an astonishing volume of music which is played and sung throughout Bengal to this day (and includes the national anthems of two countries, India and Bangladesh); internationally acclaimed and exhibited paintings; social, political and philosophical essays; agrarian reform; pioneering environmentalism; the creation of a school and a university. His philosophy of education may yet come to be seen as one of his most significant contributions. Despite all this, and compared to his contemporaries Gandhi and Nehru, relatively few people have heard of Rabindranath Tagore. A Titan of the Bengal Renaissance, Tagore was cast in Romantic mould by a briefly admiring modernist intelligentsia in England. In India he was feted but also castigated for supposedly betraying the nationalist Left. Much maligned and often misunderstood, recovering Tagore’s thought and life in all its complexity is important today – as the twenty-first century eclipse of the West by the East unfolds – for the fact that he tried to imagine and articulate an alternative modernity: not a Eurocentric one but a parallel Indian or ‘Eastern’ modernity that would necessarily involve inter-cultural dialogue and convergence. Tagore would have passionately opposed the post-9/11 ‘clash of civilisations’ argument."

Rabindranath Tagore Beyond His Language - Introduction

Rabindranath Tagore Beyond His Language, 2017

This volume presents Rabindranath Tagore, the winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for literature, as a global figure who rose above divides and spoke to people distant both in time and space. No Indian writer in a regional language has ever managed to reach out to so many people worldwide as did Tagore. The volume presents how he was able to cross the boundaries of language to connect to various literary cultures, how his activities are related to the meta-linguistic domains of the psychological and the mythical, and how his paintings were linked to his textual experiments. Tagore scholars from East, West, Central and Northern Europe, Indian public figures, writers and artists combine various approaches in their contributions.

Some Reflections on the Relevance of Rabindranath Tagore

Kavya Bharati, 2012

My reflections on the relevance of Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), circle around three mantras that underlie and harness a good deal of the work that Tagore did as poet-playwright, artist, ambassador and educationist. A close look at his life and actions along with his writings unfolds before us a legacy from which there is much to learn and benefit. The methods he adopted appeared quite ordinary and indigenous, their strength lay however in their guiding vision and corrective impact. The contributions come to us through his engagement with i) translation ii) Shantiniketan and iii) his innate sense of beauty. Tagore chose to translate (rather than write) his poems/plays into English, thereby subscribing translation as a means to producing literature in English. His school Shantiniketan combined the merits of both the Vernacular and English curriculum. It was the one means of recovering a nation divided by education into two major sections – the English and non English speaking Indians. The third gift as I see it lies in Tagore's cultivation of an inner 'sense of beauty'. A sense of beauty he affirmed, was the most effective way to refine, discipline and reform human character. Through his writings, his art, music, through Shantiniketan and through theatre Tagore shared with the world his unique vision; a sense of beauty furnished with enchantment and wisdom runs through all his endeavours and creative expression. The sense of regard I have for Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), is therefore compounded by a keen awareness of the fact that he rendered to India, Indian literature and culture, a precious amount of service. He was a exemplary role model both as writer and educationist. At a time when most Indians writing in English had eyes only for the wealth of poets abroad and had little to do with the literatures and traditions of their own soil, we find in Tagore's work a strong unbroken link with Classical, Bhakti and Baul traditions of writing. Tagore gives voice to the life around him, in an idiom that is his own and yet

Title: "Rabindranath Tagore: His Influence and Legacy in India and Bangladesh"

This thesis undertakes a rigorous exploration of the life, works, and enduring influence of Rabindranath Tagore, the distinguished polymath and first non-European Nobel laureate in Literature. A highly esteemed figure in both India and Bangladesh, this research delves into Tagore's literary oeuvre, philosophical thought, intricate stances on nationalism, and his substantial cultural, educational, and social impacts, drawing from an interdisciplinary pool of academic sources and approaches.