A Postmodern Perspective of
Tagore:
The
Man and the Writer
S.
Latha
The transition from modern to postmodern saw the replacement of “metanarrative” by the “local contexts and diversity of human experience.” Metanarrative, a distinguishing feature of modernity, encompasses modern science, religion, politics and culture. It is a term signifying a grand overarching account or an all encompassing story, typically charaterised by some form of “universal and transcendent truth.” Postmodernism on the other hand stands for a multiplicity of theoretical standpoints, rather than a grand all encompassing narrative. Lyotard, a postmodern theoretician, used the term “metanarrative” in his definition, “simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodernism as incredulity towards metanarratives.” (Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on knowledge.1984). He meant that the condition of post-modernity is characterized by an increasingly widespread skepticism towards metanarratives. These large-scale theories tend to argue that they are universally applicable with their prescription for progress regardless of context. Tagore abandoned these grand theoretical schemes be they religious ideologies or nationalistic arguments, and developed new modes of thought and understanding.
Tagore lived ahead of his times both in life and thought. He was referred to as “The Indian Goethe” by Albert Schweitzer, “The Great Sentinel” by Mahatma Gandhi, and “Gurudev” by his followers. But above everything he was a man, who felt and saw the society and political turmoil of his times. Tagore’s literary life extended over sixty years. He was a versatile poet, a great short story writer, novelist, playwright, essayist and composer of songs. A talented painter whose paintings with their mixture of representation and abstraction have now received the acclaim they have long deserved. His essays ranged over literature, politics, culture, social change, religious beliefs, philosophical analysis, international relations etc. Above all his themes, it was his prophetic vision and outlook that brought him and his works into present times.
His work may be said to have brought a new significance to the issues confronting man in the metaphysical, social and political spheres. Tagore succeeded in infusing a spirit of liberal humanism into the life of his times. The grand totalizing narratives (Religious reformation, Nationalism) that attempted absolute explanations of systems and events were not accepted by him. His humanistic persuasion is directed towards a change in diehard reading of the Indian traditions to facilitate the birth of a new order. He emphasizes the importance of man above all types of orthodoxy, narrow-minded sectarianism, religion, parochialism and violence.
For Tagore, every finite human being contains within his bosom the infinite which lies in wait for blossoming. This is what he meant by the “surplus” in man, and the manifestation of this inexhaustible “surplus” through various means raises man to be the complete man. In Sadhana he stated “Man becomes a perfect man, he attains his fullest expression when his soul realizes itself in the infinite being who is Avih, whose very essence is expression.” He further writes, “This is the ultimate end of man, to find the one which is in him, which is his truth, which is his soul.” According to him man is constantly evolving. In “The Religion of Man,” he says “Religion only finds itself when it touches the Brahman in man. Otherwise it has no reason to exist.” In brief he feels that, “life is man’s journey towards the realization of his fullest potential.” Tagore believes that man belongs to two worlds, one which lies within him and the other outside. To explore the two worlds, using the power of thought and imagination and harmonise the two worlds becomes his primary concern. Education, economics, politics, religion, social life all are but steps towards the same concern. In 1921 Tagore said: The essential thing is that truth should be realized within and expressed without, with the sole object of liberating and revealing man’s soul. The doctrine of man’s revelation must be propagated through our education, and practiced through our action. Only then shall we be honoured by honouring all mankind, and shall overcome the infirmity of age by invoking a new age. He who sees all beings in his own self and his own self in all beings, he does not remain unrevealed.” (Towards Universal Man. P. 251)
Postmodernists believe that one can never have any direct access to reality, and as such, every representation of reality is an interpretation that is influenced by the experiences, values and attitudes of the person. Every definition of reality, any identification of meaning is always a construct. There can be no one truth or one accurate form of knowledge. Man’s personal self can make itself meaningful in relation to its own soul. Tagore’s accent on “the complete man” is an important feature in his thinking. As such he believed in the fullness of life’s experience and disapproved the renunciation of the sensuous: ‘Deliverance is not for me in renunciation. I feel the embrace of freedom in a thousand bonds of delight…no, I will never shut the doors of my sense. The delights of sights and hearing and touch will bear the delight.’ (173)
Much of Tagore’s religious inspiration comes from nature. Nature gives his poetry its ethereal beauty. Gitanjali, which won the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature celebrates nature. His poems blend his religious beliefs, his confidence in man and his love of his country. He felt that religion cut off from the social context and preoccupied with individual salvation was unreal. Recognition of the Divine in the tiller and the worker was the nearest approach to God.
“If ever I have somehow come to realize God, or if the vision of God has ever been granted to me, I must have received the vision through the world, through man, through trees and birds and beasts, the dust and the soil.” (Viswa-Bharati Quarterly, August – October, 1949, P. 88)
He steers clear of the extremes represented by the obscurantism of the Hindus and the sectarianism of the Bramhos.
Tagore, called as the “mahakavi,” was yet a man who felt and saw the society and political turmoil of his times. He reacted as befitted his humanity and fundamental sanity to the developing pressure of circumstances, be they local, social, economic or political and to the impact of events be they national or international. Tagore loved his country but was not drawn in by the grand narrative of nationalism. He was a close friend of Mahatma Gandhi, yet opposed nationalism. His concept of nation and nationalism assert that he was a great critique of nationalism. He was a champion of the people and not of the nation. Nationalism in his opinion is an organized gregariousness and mechanical gluttony and he clamoured for the release of humanism.
He rebelled against the strongly nationalist form that the independence movement often took. He asserted India’s right to be independent without denying the importance of what India could learn – freely and profitably – from abroad. He was of the opinion that a rejection of the West in favour of an indigenous Indian tradition was not only limiting in itself but could easily turn hostile to other influences from abroad. He felt the experiences of individuals and groups, though they emphasize differences, could yet be synthesized through toleration and accommodation. It is here that Indian culture could play a synthetic role seeking harmonization with alien, distinct but absorbable elements. He believed that a nation can unite in a real sense only when the sense of unity comes from the resource of the soul. The idea of celebrating Bangla New Year’s festival in his Shantiniketan was to create a feeling of unity in the diversity of human existence. He never accepted that the East and the West were irreconcilable opposites. He believed that new life could emerge through a creative fusion. He asserted that the human values were essentially the same in the West and the East. His dream was to create a new world culture founded on diversity, tolerance and multi-culturalism. This dream to create a new world culture founded on diversity, tolerance and multi-culturalism finds expression in the character of Anandamoyi in Gora. She appears to be a symbol of Tagore’s broad vision of life and echoes the novelist’s ideal of “heaven of freedom.” Liberal and non-sectarian in outlook, compassionate, all perspectives remain valid in her sympathetic understanding.
Tagore’s concept of state and society and his preference to society, in all its diversities, marks him as a postmodernist. He emphasized the diversity and heterogeneity of the Civil society. He repeatedly wrote and spoke of it, and in his own way tried to foster it by experimenting with institutions which would serve as the foundation of civil society. The Visva-Bharati was the foundation for the superstructure of civil society. Tagore believed that village reconstruction was a more fruitful activity for the purpose of the real deliverance of the Indian people. For him it was only man who was important. To respect the vitality and legitimacy of the civil society is at one and the same time to discountenance the totalization, monopolization, mechanization, abstraction that are the features of neo-colonial societies. For Tagore it was of the highest importance that people be able to live and reason, in freedom. His attitude towards politics and culture, nationalism and internationalism, tradition and modernity, can all be seen in the light of this belief. He advocated the need for “a life and thought” away from totalizing obsessions.
Gora is an exploration of a young man’s search for harmony and unity. Gora undertakes a journey that enables him to find unity only when he acknowledges the diversity. Gora’s faith in humanism comes to the fore when he defines his motherland as a cultural unity rising above the diversities of sects, castes and religions. Gora thus becomes a novel of discovery, of a search for unification. In The Home and the World, he reaffirms his faith in freedom by repudiating the idea of nation state in India. He portrays the conflict between nationalism and universal manhood vividly and gives the most profound expression to his faith in the perfect independence and freedom for an individual irrespective of any particular nationality.
Tagore questioned the existing paradigms, by inventing new ones and in not agreeing to a consensus or assenting to universal truths. He felt that consensus does violence to the heterogeneity of life. Any invention is always born of dissension. He refined one’s sensitivity to differences and reinforced one’s ability to tolerate these differences.