This document summarizes Rabindranath Tagore's views on nationalism. It discusses how Tagore criticized extreme nationalism and patriotism in his novels Gora, Char Adhyay, and The Home and the World. He believed nationalism divides people and is not as important as humanity. The document also provides background on Tagore and references various aspects of his literature that dealt with nationalism in India in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

1. Prepared by : Latta Baraiya
Sem : 3 (M.A.)
Topic : Nationalism and Rabindranath
Tagore
Email id : lattabaraiya1204@gmail.com
Department of English Maharaja
Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

2. Rabindranath Tagore
● He was a reformer, philosopher,
prophet, novelist, short-story writer,
and critic of life and literature.
● He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic
Society.
● He reshaped Bengali literature and
music as well as Indian art with
Contextual Modernism in the late
19th and early 20th centuries.

3. ● Author of the "profoundly sensitive, fresh
and beautiful verse" of Gitanjali,
● He became the first non-European to win
the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1913.
● Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as
spiritual and mercurial; however, his
"elegant prose and magical poetry"
remain largely unknown outside Bengal.
● He is sometimes referred to as "the Bard
of Bengal".

4. What is Nationalism ?
● Nationalism is the belief that your own country
is better than all others.
● Sometimes nationalism makes people not want
to work with other countries to solve shared
problems. ...
● Patriotism is a healthy pride in your country that
brings about feelings of loyalty and a desire to
help other citizens.

5. Nationalism, according to Tagore,
● It is is not expressive of the living bonds in society; it is
not a voluntary self-expression of individuals as social
beings, where human relationships are naturally
bregulated, “so that men can develop ideals of life in
cooperation with one another,” but a political and
commercial union of a group of people, in which they
come together to maximize their profit, progress and
power; it is ”the organised self-interest of a people,
where it is least human and least spiritual.

6. “Patriotism cannot be our final
spiritual shelter, my refuge is
HUMANITY. I will not buy glass
for the price of diamonds, and will
never allow patriotism to triumph
over humanity as long as I live”
- Rabindranath Tagore

7. Nationalism in Tagore's work :-
● How many wars have been waged in the
name of the nation?
● How much innocent blood has it claimed?
● “National security” and ”national interest”
are buzzwords today.
● Any action is legitimate in the name of the
nation, no matter how remote it may be
from truth or justice.

8. ● The three novels—Gora, Char Adhyay and Ghare
Baire—where he unravelled the dangers of hyper-
masculine aggressiveness cum hyper sexuality, reflect
his ‘dis-ease’ with nationalism.

9. ● Tagore was conceived in 1861, a period
amid which guideline was taking shape
and picking up momentum.
● In 1856, just four years before the poet
was convinced, the main military uprising
for self preclude broke in india.
● In 1905, the Swadeshi movement begun
Tagore's doorstep, as a reaction to the
British policy of partitioning Bengal.

10. Gora
● Novel written in 1880s during the British Raj
● It is the fifth in order of writing and the longest of
Tagore’s twelve novels.
● It is rich in philosophical debate on politics and religion
● highlights the role of history in the narrative of the
Nation.
● The novel is set in the era of the Swadeshi Movement
and echoes Tagore’s political concerns.
● The novel revolves around the issues of nationalism,
patriotism, identity and self – discovery.

11. Char Adhyay
● Char Adhyay is a political novel written in Bengali,
published in 1934.
● After the non-cooperation movement in British India, a
renewed violent revolutionary effort was started in
Bengal.
● In fact, the story is written by criticizing barbaric
terrorism.
● Indranath, the leader of the terrorists, is as
superhuman as he is cruel on the one hand. The main
story of the end of Atindra and Ella's love under his

12. The Home and The World
● The Home and the World (original Bengali, Ghôre
Baire or Ghare Baire )
● The book illustrates the battle Tagore had with
himself, between the ideas of Western culture and
revolution against the Western culture.
● These two ideas are portrayed in two of the main
characters, Nikhilesh, who is rational and opposes
violence, and Sandip, who will let nothing stand in
his way from reaching his goals.

13. ● Tagore's representation of nationalism
consequently spills out of his depiction of the
establishment of nation state.
● Plainly advocates a characteristic type of
society for india, without the western
organization of nation state and the thought of
political nationalism.
To conclude…

14. References
❏ G, Sankar. “Nationalism in Rabindranath
Tagore Plays .” International Journal Online
Humanities (IJOHMN), vol. 1, no. 3, Apr. 2015.
❏ Kumar Dr. Sitenderr. “Analysis on the Scenes
of Nationalism in Rabindranath Tagore's
Novels Post - Independence.” Journal of
Advances and Scholarly Researches Allied
Education, XIV, no. No. 2, Jan. 2018,
Accessed 8 Oct. 2021.

15. ❏ Quayum, Mohammad A. “Tagore and Nationalism.” The
Journal of Commonwealth Literature, June 2004, Accessed
8 Oct. 2021.
❏ Sirur, Simrin, et al. “Rabindranath Tagore - the Poet Who
Knew Nationalism Could Not Rise above Humanity.”
ThePrint, 7 Aug. 2019, https://theprint.in/theprint-
profile/rabindranath-tagore-the-poet-who-knew-nationalism-
could-not-rise-above-humanity/273558/.
❏ “ Why Rabindranath Tagore Was Himself Critical of
Nationalism.” Performance by Ravish Kumar, YouTube,
NDTV, 3 Dec. 2016, https://youtu.be/b3hm-N6ZDfc.