This course examines how Rabindranath Tagore--Asia's first Nobel Laureate--addressed fundamental issues and dilemmas facing India and the modern world, both intellectually and experientially. Topics include: Tagore's place in the Bengal Renaissance; his concepts of humanity, art, personality, freedom, nationalism, ashram, science, education. The course traces Tagore's literary contribution and his innovative educational work at Santiniketan as it evolved from children's schools and a rural reconstruction centre (at nearby Sriniketan) into specialized academies and an all-Indian and global university (Visva-Bharati). The course also examines Tagore-Gandhi tensions over education and the non-cooperation movement.
Required Texts
Amiya Chakravarty, ed., A Tagore Reader (Boston: Beacon Press, 1966.) [To be available for purchase at University of Toronto Book Store.]
A package of assigned articles on and by Tagore available from The Three Cent Copy Centre , 740 Spadina Avenue (south of Bloor Street).
The package includes:
Tapan Raychaudhuri, Transformation of Indian Sensibilities: The West as Catalyst,
Sibnarayan Ray, Tagore-Gandhi Controversy,
Amartya Sen, Tagore and His India,
Ananda Lal, Tagore as Theatrician,
Asish Nandy, Tagore and Nationalism,
Dipankar Home and Andrew Robinson, Tagore and Einstein,
K.G. Subramanyan, Rabindranath Tagore and Modern Indian Art,
Other articles.
Time
TBA
Evaluation
Book review of Broken Ties (ca. 4 pp.)10%
Written progress report 10%
Oral presentation 15%
Final written paper. (ca. 15 pp.) 25%
Informed participation 20%
Class test 20%
Instructor
Dr. Kathleen M. O'Connell
Note
Reading knowledge of Bengali is not presumed for the course. However, students with a knowledge of the language are encouraged to read materials in Bengali.
