Name – Janvi Nakum
Paper- 201 Indian English Literature
Roll no- 11
Enrollment no –4069206420210020
Email id – janvinakum360@gmail.com
Batch- 2021-2023(M.A. Sem – 3)
Topic : Nationalism and Rabindranath Tagore
Submitted to – S.B. Gardi Department of English Maharaja Krishnkumarsinhji Bhavnagar University
Nationalism and Rabindranath Tagore
"Even though from childhood I had been taught that idolatry of the Nation is almost better than reverence for God and humanity, I believe I have outgrown that teaching, and it is my conviction that my countrymen will truly gain their India by fighting against the education which teaches them that a country is greater than the ideals of humanity." – Rabindranath Tagore
Nationalism and Patriotism
Here an important distinction needs to be made between nationalism and patriotism. Patriotism refers to the love which one has for his or her nation. It is an extremely natural instinct and it is practically impossible to shake off that attachment. We are bound to have feelings of love and admiration for the country in which we have lived since our childhood. On the other hand, nationalism refers to the feeling of belonging to a political community. This community is called the 'nation' which is bound together by a common history as well as a united government and all other distinctions of religion, race, caste, etc. are supposed to be secondary when compared to our national identity. While this is perfectly fine in most cases, an extreme amount of nationalism can lead to nations being organized as opposed to other nations. This is exactly what was happening when Tagore was giving those speeches.
Human beings normally never harm their neighbors. It is completely against their nature to do so. Yet what happens when a person's mind is infused with the spirit of aggressive nationalism – the latter type which was discussed in the previous paragraph? Aggressive nationalism dilutes the human element in a person's mind. Accordingly, he does not recognize if a person is a neighbor or not. If the nation to which that person belongs poses a threat to our national interest, we will go to any length to punish him. 'Wars', which are actually nothing but mass murders, are seen as necessary to achieve the good of our nation.
In the Indian context
Remember one thing. Tagore said these things when the freedom movement in India was at its full swing and any statement other than the dominant national voice was a taboo. Yet he had the courage to defy the possibility of censure and make his country aware of the dangers of excessive nationalism. He had the foresight to realize that if the problem of caste (he refers to castes as 'races') is not solved, then even political independence may not do our country a lot of good. This is expressed in the strongest possible words when he says that "In the so-called free countries majority of the people are led by a powerful minority to an unknown goal". Although he was known to have opposition to Gandhi's methods of the mass movement, he was not opposed to the idea of the freedom struggle as such. He simply wanted his country to escape the fate of other nations whose roots had been destroyed by the forces of excessive nationalism.
Nationalism vs Universalism
“Nationalism can rouse the noblest sentiment in man as well as basis to propensities of human character. It can be vehicle of culture as well as engine of oppression. It can unify as well as disrupt. Its contribution to the sum total of human welfare has been great but its contribution to human misery has been perhaps greater”
No other Writer of India has attracted the attention of such wide range of readers and critics as Rabindranath Tagore. No poet in history has perhaps so much honor in his life time as Tagore.
No poet again has perhaps suffered public indignation as Tagore. For that he himself provides the answer “The desire for unity with the rest of the world.”
Tagore political philosophy his literary works rise above regional considerations. In his novel “The Home and The World” his protagonist Nikhil says” To worship my country as a god is to bring curse upon it”.
Tagore was a champion of national movement, a composer of patriotic songs, writer of our national anthem, an inspiring anticolonial activist, a vigorous critic of western imperialism, he was considered a precursor to Gandhi, Romain Rolland had described a meeting between Tagore and Gandhi as one between “ a philosopher and an apostle, a St. Paul and a Plato” So why has Tagore's reputation fell when published The Home and The World in 1915 and even further when he published Nationalism in 1918 and Four Chapters in 1934. The reasons are not so much poetical but ideological and philosophical. Tagore's vision of universal human unity, of living bonds in society, of spontaneous expression of man as a social being, of his equation of nation with the universe.
Tagore's vision of human unity and equality, and his critique of modern civilization with its twin principles of materialism and nationalism, is recurrent in all his works. His vision emerges most explicitly and powerfully, however in several of his lectures and Addresses, including „My Life‟, „My School‟, „ My Religion‟, ‟Civilization and Progress‟, ‟Nationalism in India‟, „Nationalism in Japan‟, „Nationalism in the West‟, as well as in his novels „Gora‟, ‟The Home and The World‟ and energetically investigates what has gone wrong with the world and where the remedy lies Tagore's disenchantment with the national movement grew out of his bitter experiences of the Swadeshi movement His first disillusionment started at the sight of burning of foreign cloth. The illiterate poor, who could not afford like the rich land owners the luxury of burning cloth, they were forcibly made to burn their cloth at the cost of their jobs and wages and led them to the brink of starvation There was still another group of protestors, the Muslims. Who refused to participate in the Swadeshi movement as an assertion of aggressive Hindu nationalism promoting Hindu sentiments.
Rabindranath himself was deeply scarred by the outcome of Swadeshi which had earlier embraced. The Home and The World, produced out of the ravages of time, relives some of the poet's own anguish. In a series of essays written shortly after this novel, Tagore would aggressively decry the goals and outcome of nationalist politics Nationalism in the west, he claimed, had produced a mindless hungering, after material wealth and political power , its ultimate terrifying form being imperialist domination of other people of the world The novel deals with the experiences of three characters during the volatile period of Swadeshi: Nikhil, a benevolent, enlightened , and progressive Zamindar: his friend Sandip, a charismatic nationalist leader, Nikhil's wife Bimala who is happy at the outset in her traditional role as a Zamindar's wife, but who encouraged by her husband steps out of home to better acquaint herself with the world and find a new identify for the Indian woman At the sight of Sandip, she emotionally trips, vacillates between him and her husband until she returns home, bruised and humiliated but with a more mature understanding of both the self and the world Nikhil represents Tagore's view of patriotism on constructive lines rather than political, emotional and tyrannical approach. While Sandip represents aggressive nationalism rather than ethical or human grounds. Bimala is torn between the two contradictory elements of truth and force, reason and emotion, idealism and opportunism. The book appears to present many of its readers with a transparent statement of Rabindranath's personal distrust of militant nationalism and hi hence forth permanent commitment to peaceful social change. Bimala in this allegorical reading is the figure of the nation and the strife of Nikhil and Sandip a battle over competiting visions of a sovereign India.
Here Nikhil's view of life is just opposite to the conservative Hindu's view of life. He considers that husband and wife are equal in love. According to him there is no place for wife's devotion for Hindi since devotion is an obstacle in the way of true equality But Bimala who has been accustomed to domestic life, shows no interest in the world other than her husband and her paradise of home.
Nikhil believes that violence for freedom is far worse than alien forces. He says to tyrannises for the country is to tyrannise over the country” He considers Sandip's love of the country is but a different phase of his covetous self-love. Sandip considers Nikhil to be metaphor monger and weak because he will not resort to force. Bimala stands between the two fascinated by Sandip, married to Nikhil.
The spell of Sandip is so profound that under his influence. Bimala forgets her individual identity and she identifies herself as a sole representative of Bengal womanhood.
Bimala's delusion of being “Sakti of mother land” is cleverly exploited by the unscrupulous Sandip who through clever flattery lays a snare for her mind and body.
Tagore political philosophy like his literary works rise above regional considerations. This is one of the greatest reasons that critics attacked him by pointing that his sense of nationalism was subdued by his passion for internationalism was subdued by his passion for internationalism.
We see Tagore's global sentiment through Nikhil when Sandip arbitrarily equates God with nation,
Sandip: I truly believe my country to be my God.
Nikhil: “If that is what you really believe, there should be no difference for you between man and man and so between country and country”
Works Cited
“THE HOME AND THE WORLD NATIONALISM VS. UNIVERSALISM Dr. P. SREERAMULU ASSISTANT PROFESSOR GITAM UNIVERSITY RESEARCH PAPER.” Epitome : International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, http://epitomejournals.com/VolumeArticles/FullTextPDF/448_Research_Paper.pdf. Accessed 5 November 2022.
KB, Gouranga. “Rabindranath Tagore's views on Nationalism.” IndiaStudyChannel.com, 17 April 2019, https://www.indiastudychannel.com/resources/176246-rabindranath-tagores-views-on-nationalism. Accessed 5 November 2022.
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