Assignment Paper :- Indian English Literature – Pre-Independence
Name :- Aarti Bhupatbhai Sarvaiya
Batch :- M.A. Sem. 3 (2022-2024)
Enrollment N/o. :- 4069206420220027
Roll N/o. :- 01
Subject Code & Paper N/o. :- 22406
Paper :- Indian English Literature – Pre-Independence
Email Address :- aartisarvaiya7010@gmail.com
Submitted to :- Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English – Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University – Bhavnagar – 364001
Date of Submission :- 1 December, 2023
The home and the world as a political novel
Introduction :-
About the Novelist :-
Rabindranath Tagore FRAS ( 7 May 1861 – 8 August 1941) was an Indian poet, writer, playwright, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter. He reshaped Bengali literature and music as well as Indian art with Contextual Modernism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Author of the "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful" poetry of Gitanjali,he became in 1913 the first non-European and the first lyricist to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Tagore's poetic songs were viewed as spiritual and mercurial; where his elegant prose and magical poetry were widely popular in the Indian subcontinent. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. Referred to as "the Bard of Bengal",Tagore was known by sobriquets: Gurudeb, Kobiguru, and Biswokobi.
A Bengali Brahmin from Calcutta with ancestral gentry roots in Burdwan district and Jessore, Tagore wrote poetry as an eight-year-old. At the age of sixteen, he released his first substantial poems under the pseudonym Bhānusiṃha ("Sun Lion"), which were seized upon by literary authorities as long-lost classics. By 1877 he graduated to his first short stories and dramas, published under his real name. As a humanist, universalist, internationalist, and ardent critic of nationalism, he denounced the British Raj and advocated independence from Britain. As an exponent of the Bengal Renaissance, he advanced a vast canon that comprised paintings, sketches and doodles, hundreds of texts, and some two thousand songs; his legacy also endures in his founding of Visva-Bharati University.
Tagore modernised Bengali art by spurning rigid classical forms and resisting linguistic structures. His novels, stories, songs, dance-dramas, and essays spoke to topics political and personal. Gitanjali (Song Offerings), Gora (Fair-Faced) and Ghare-Baire (The Home and the World) are his best-known works, and his verse, short stories, and novels were acclaimed—or panned—for their lyricism, colloquialism, naturalism, and unnatural contemplation. His compositions were chosen by two nations as national anthems: India's "Jana Gana Mana '' and Bangladesh's "Amar Shonar Bangla ''. The Sri Lankan national anthem was also inspired by his work.
About the Novel :-
The Home and the World (in the original Bengali, ঘরে বাইরে Ghôre Baire or Ghare Baire, lit. "At home and outside") is a 1916 novel by Rabindranath Tagore. 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. These two opposing ideals are very important in understanding the history of the Bengal region and its contemporary problems.
The novel was translated into English by the author's nephew, Surendranath Tagore, with input from the author, in 1919. In 2005, it was translated into English by Sreejata Guha for Penguin Books India. The Home and the World was among the contenders in a 2014 list by The Telegraph of the 10 all-time greatest Asian novels.
'The Home and The World' as 'a political Novel' :-
"The Home and the World" is a significant political novel that delves into the complexities of the socio-political landscape during the swadeshi movement in India. Rabindranath Tagore uses the characters of Nikhil, Sandip, and Bimala to represent contrasting ideologies, symbolising the larger debate within the nation.
Nikhil embodies enlightened humanism and a global perspective, advocating for true equality and harmony. In contrast, Sandip represents a parochial and belligerent nationalism that risks replacing moral sensibilities with blind fanaticism. Bimala, torn between these visions, reflects Bengal's struggle for identity amid conflicting influences.
The novel serves as an allegory for the nation itself, with Nikhil and Sandip representing opposing visions for its future. Tagore's critique of nationalism, as embodied by Sandip's actions, foreshadows the pitfalls later highlighted by post-colonial critics—irrationality, prejudice, and hierarchy. Ultimately, "The Home and the World" stands as a profound exploration of political ideologies, offering a timeless reflection on the dangers of unchecked nationalism and the quest for a balanced, enlightened society.
Rabindranath Tagore’s Home and the World is a product of the crisis of that time, and as a political novel it echoes through its narration a large number of attitudes, not always compatible with the colonial experience. The novel deals with the experience of modernity and the price one has to pay for it. The controversial nature of the subject matter, in which Tagore takes the opportunity to launch his fiercest attack yet against the ideology of nationalism, contrary to its rising popularity both in India and the West, was also a reason it drew much attention, mostly in the form of reprobation and scorn, from readers both in and outside Bengal.
The novel deals with the experiences of three characters during the volatile period of swadeshi: Nikhil, a benevolent, enlightened and progressive landlord; his childhood friend and a voluble, selfish but charismatic nationalist leader, Sandip; and 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 identity 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 home/self and the world.
The novel has a certain allegorical quality in that Nikhil and Sandip seem to represent two opposing visions for the nation; with Bimala, torn between the two, not knowing for sure what should be her guiding principle - signifying Bengal tottering between the two possibilities. Nikhil’s vision is one of enlightened humanitarian and global perspective, based on a true equality and harmony of individuals and nations. On the other hand, Sandip’s parochial and belligerent nationalism, which cultivates an intense sense of patriotism in individuals, threatens to replace their moral sensibility with national bigotry and blind fanaticism. Seen from this perspective, Nikhil’s death at the end of the novel, just when Bimala is turning the corner and returning to her senses after a prolonged infatuation with Sandip and his views, also signals Tagore’s pessimism about the future of Bengal. In the absence of truly benevolent leaders like Nikhil, she would be mutilated, divided in two (currently Bangladesh and West Bengal), with millions of her children paying with their lives to meet the apocalyptic wishes of self-seeking, immoral, power-hungry politicians, determined to carve out her body on religious communal lines.
Nikhil loves his country as much as, if not more than, Sandip, but he will not allow his love for the country to overtake his conscience. Sandip, on the other hand, believes that ‘a country's needs must be made into a god’, and one ought to set ‘aside conscience [by] putting the country in its place’. This reckless deification of the nation and his belief that any action, no matter how heinous or unscrupulous, is justifiable if undertaken for the nation’s sake eventually turns him into a frightful terrorist and appalling criminal. He does not mind using intrigue or violence to accomplish his mission, even if it means harm to his own followers. As long as the mission is accomplished, the end justifies his means. He adroitly persuades Bimala to give all her jewellery to him to finance the movement, and steal money from the family safe. He also uses Amulya, an impassioned but idealistic youth (emblematic of the many adolescents who were influenced by the movement), exploitatively. When Mirjan, a Muslim boatman, refuses to stop carrying foreign goods, as it will take away his livelihood, Sandip arranges to sink his boat in midstream.
Post-colonial critics such as Ernest Gellner, Benedict Anderson and Tom Nairn have pointed out how nationalism cultivates the sentiments of irrationality, prejudice and hatred in people and Leela Gandhi has spoken of its attendant racism and loathing, and the alacrity with which citizens are willing to both kill and die for it. Frantz Fanon has explained that although the objective of nationalism is to create a horizontal relationship and fraternity within its people, in reality the nation never speaks of the hopes and aspirations of the entire ‘imagined community’, and hierarchy, factional hegemony, inequality and exploitation remain a daily occurrence in its body. In Sandip’s actions, Tagore has insightfully and shrewdly anticipated all these pitfalls of nationalism pointed out by latter-day post-colonial critics.
This radical critique of militant nationalism, conceived against a backdrop of a larger ideology of love, creation and global human fellowship, is what occupies Tagore’s The Home and the World.
Conclusion :-
In conclusion, Rabindranath Tagore's "The Home and the World" serves as a powerful critique of militant nationalism during the volatile period of swadeshi. Through the characters of Nikhil, the enlightened humanitarian, and Sandip, the charismatic nationalist leader, Tagore explores the clash between two visions for the nation. Bimala, torn between these opposing forces, symbolises Bengal's struggle to find its identity. The allegorical quality of the novel reflects Tagore's pessimism about the future, foreseeing the dangers of blind fanaticism and the mutilation of Bengal. Tagore's radical critique anticipates the pitfalls of nationalism, echoing the insights of later postcolonial critics, and underscores the overarching theme of love, creation, and global human fellowship.
Word Count :- 1643
Images :- 03
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