Rabindranath Tagore’s Ideational Challenges

Rabindranath Tagore’s Ideational Challenges is an analytical attempt to show that Rabindranath Tagore in his own unique style raised some troublesome sociocultural issues that constrained the attainment of the politico-ideological objectives that the nationalists espoused. His creative texts were not merely literary articulation of the issues but were powerful responses to the prevalent conceptual parameters on which humanity rested. Although the poet did not appear to have made such a claim, his writings dealt with politico-ideologically innovative ideas about human diversity that naturally fl-ourished in the Indian subcontinent. By approaching the pertinent sociocultural and politico-ideological issues from a literary perspective, the poet seemingly refashioned the dominant views on humanity.
The selected novels and short stories in this book represent a distinct voice explicit in the politico-ideological message. Keeping this in view, each chapter is an articulation of the views that Rabindranath championed while contributing to ushering in a new vision based on his perception of well-entrenched sociocultural values of the time.

Bidyut Chakrabarty is Vice Chancellor Visva-Bharati, Santiketan, West Bengal, India.