Celebrating Tagore

Papers presented at a summer seminar on Tagore, held at Kolkata in 2000 and a conference on Celebrating Tagore, held at Fayetteville State University, North Carolina in 2004.

Papers presented at a summer seminar on Tagore, held at Kolkata in 2000 and a conference on Celebrating Tagore, held at Fayetteville State University, North Carolina in 2004.

Gitanjali, the book of poems for which Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, was in fact a collection of songs. Much of what Tagore experienced-joy and frustration, grief and devastation-was expressed through music, and during his lifetime, Tagore was most renowned for his songwriting. The distinction of his musical oeuvre lay in the near-perfect balance he achieved between the evocative lyrics, the matching melody and the rhythmic structure in which each song was bound. The Singer and His Song is a unique biography of Tagore with music as its leitmotif. It traces the musical journey of the poet with anecdotes and allusions, and includes translations of some of his most resonant songs. Written in elegant prose and accompanied by relevant photographs and paintings, this highly original book is a fitting tribute to Tagore's enduring musical legacy.

‘Rabindranath Tagore's Drama in the Perspective of Indian Theatre’ maps Tagore’s place in the Indian dramatic/performance traditions by examining unexplored critical perspectives on his drama such as his texts as performance texts; their exploration in multimedia; reflections of Indian culture in his plays; comparison with playwrights; theatrical links to his world of music and performance genres; his plays in the context of cross-cultural, intercultural theatre; the playwright as a poet-performer-composer and their interconnections and his drama on the Indian stage.

This volume consists of a selection of scholarly essays from literature, philosophy and history on the conception of reality as understood by Rabindranath Tagore and Albert Einstein. The nature of reality has been a long-debated issue among scientists and philosophers. Tagore (1861–1941) met Einstein (1879–1955) at the latter’s house in Kaputh, Germany on 14 July 1930 and had a long conversation on this issue. This conversation has been widely quoted and discussed by scientists, philosophers and scholars from the literary world. The important question that Tagore and Einstein discussed was whether the world is a unity dependent on humanity, or the world is a reality independent of the human factor. Einstein believed that reality is independent of the mind and the human factor. On the other hand, Tagore adopted the opposite view. Nevertheless, both Einstein and Tagore claimed to be realists — their conceptions of reality were obviously fundamentally different. Where does the difference lie? Can it be harmonized at a deeper level? This volume brings together for the first time a gamut of views on this subject from eminent scholars. It presents some key reflections on reality, language, poetry, truth, science, personality, human sciences, virtue ethics, intelligibility and creativity. It will be useful to scholars and researchers of philosophy, literature, history and political studies, as also to those interested in Tagore.

A seamless blend of intelligent analysis with real empathy, Young Tagore is a firstofitskind psychobiography that deepens our understanding of Rabindranath Tagore. By carefully reconstructing the crucial years of Tagore’s childhood and youth, preeminent psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar examines the young prodigy’s formative experiences and unravels how they shaped his creative genius. In laying bare the inner workings of Tagore’s brilliance, Kakar reveals the real man behind the luminary.

This critical volume addresses the question of Rabindranath Tagore's relevance for postmodern and postcolonial discourse in the twenty-first century. The volume includes contributions by leading contemporary scholars on Tagore and analyses Tagore's literature, music, theatre, aesthetics, politics and art against contemporary theoretical developments in postcolonial literature and social theory. The authors take up themes as varied as the implications of Tagore’s educational vision for contemporary India; new theoretical interpretations of gender, queer elements, feminism and subalternism in Tagore's literary and social expressions; his language use as a vehicle for a dialogue between positivism, Orientalism and other constructs in the ongoing process of globalization; the nature of the influence of Tagore's music and literature on national and cultural identity formation, particularly in Bengal and Bangladesh; and intersubjectivity and critical modernity in Tagore’s art. This volume opens up a space for Tagore’s critique and his creative innovations in present theoretical engagements.

Moving away from orthodox narratives of the Raj and British presence in India, this book examines the significance of the networks and connections that South Asians established on British soil. Looking at the period 1858-1950, it presents readings of cultural history and points to the urgent need to open up the parameters of this field of study.