Categorized research-works of Debaprasad-27

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TAGORE STUDIES
# Debaprasad Bandyopadhyay *
^

ABSTRACT
This collection, mainly written in Bangla, represents various aspects of Rabindranath Tagores
contributions in environmentalism, economics, language planning, literary theory, philosophy and a
comparative study of the philosophy of Marx, Rabindranath and Gandhi.
In the paper,

(-) " [City and Village" & "(Non-), The author tried to establish

Rabindranath Tagore as a non-mainstream non-conventional economist/fiscal auditor on the basis of

Tagores different texts, viz. novels, verses, songs, plays and essays. The author emphasized on the
following points:
a) Tagore thought that he was a parasite as he was not capable of doing necessary labor and he was
depending on surplus labor of the other.
b) According to Tagore, city is also a parasite as it is sucking the blood of the villages.
c) Tagore reinterpreted the concept of necessary labor by introducing a new category: voluntary labor
with pleasure/toiling with full of joissance and of course without alienation.
d) He condemned the extraction of others labor-time/ surplus labor and critrisized usaries .
e) He had given the different semantics of private property, which was not merely property in the
material sense of the term, but it is a possesion of creative mind.

f) Tagore interpreted money-sign as /taka-rupak/ money-simile, by means of which unequals have

become equals by some necessary and sufficient conditions. In the rupaka figure of speech the
identitity and difference between the object compared and comparable are blurred.
g) The body-politic of democracy is the joy-ride of the super-rich. Here opinions are manufactured
(1924). Tagore anticipated the concept of dollar-vote and entered into the domain of political economy.
h) Tagore introduced a novel concept of surplus freedom provided by the cessation of activities
(karmavirati) / leisure (udbritto ObokaS) that could be executed if and only if the voluntary labor with
pleasure might be performed.

i) He introduced ecology as a variable as a part of his economics. This is one of the unprecedented
contributions of Tagore. He was against the extraction of wealth of earth by the violent anthropogenic
intervention.

j) He emphasized on the passion of greed as a part of his epistemology. It can be reinterpreted in

psychoanalytic terms.

k) Tagore introduced samavaya (Co-operative) through the activities of a society called Sriniketan,
though the semantics of this term is totally different. The author of this paper explained the difference
between the detachable (samjoga) and non-detachable (samavaya)relations. As for example, suppose
that we are connected by some non-eco-friendly electronic gadgets like CPU, satellites etc. , i.e. we are
connected in the webwe have some definite relations. These relations can easily be disconnected
according to our whims or by some catastrophic situation. However, may you detach the quivering and
leaves when you are perceiving quivering leaves? This is another type of non-detachable relation, which
is de-sign-ated as samavaya. The small-big i and I non-detachable relationship/communication without
any instruments is something different from the anti-green techno-centric communication network
between you and me.
In the paper, ( Wild Rabindranath Tagore), the author extended the previous paper and
described Tagores inclination towards ideal forest, hermitage, though the author pointed out some
problems in Tagores agenda. However, the discontents of modern civilization was emphasized by

referring to the problems of anthropogenic global heating. (see also: o King, Stop Killing Deer Of Our
Hermitage: Environmental consciousness in Indian science and technology)
On the other hand, in the book, (The Governance of Translation and
Ekalavya's Thumb), the author dealt with a different issue related to translation studies. The first part of
the monograph deals with the Dronacarya-Ekalavya relationship in case of translation by simply
summarizing the propositions made in the paper [The Ekalavya Relation:
Modernist Locals Anti-Modernist Response(s)], which elaborates the association of translation
enterprise with colonialism, violence and pedagogy . The second part of the monograph subscribes
those propositions with an ad hoc hypothesis: Rabindranath Tagore translated Eliots (The)Journey of
the Magi without reading Journey of the Magi. (see also: the PowerPoint presentation: Impossibility
Of Translation: A Case Study)

This peculiar as well as surprising hypothesis is subscribed by the chronology of events occurred within
the pretext of confronting derivative modernity by Tagore. The Bengali young modern thinkers, writers
poets, viz. Dhurjatiprasad Mukhopadhyay (better known as D.P. Mukherji), Sudhindranath Dutta,
Buddhadev Basu, Bishnu De et al., were debating with Tagore on the norms of newly introduced concept
of modernity and particularly on Eliots contribution on the modern international(?) literature. This
polemic is elaborated by the investigator with the citation of four different Ekalavya texts of the same
poem, Journey of the Magi to reveal the emission of surplus meanings by deploying ankanta (theory of
many perspectives) method.
The paper, (Bangla: A Genealogical Fantasy), is a Bangla translation/elaborated version
of the two English papers: Language Planner Rabindranath Tagore and Colony's Burden: a Case of
Extending Bangla. The Indian census reports since 1871 were put here to show the lacunas of statistical
survey techniques that helped to construct genealogical fantasy and nation statist boundary. Secondly,
the tensed relationship between Laksminath BejBarua, an Asamiya writer, and Rabindranth Tagore was
shown to understand the impact of extra-linguistic variables at the moment of a birth of nation in the
context of colonialism. Thirdly, the role of print capitalism was depicted through the endeavor of
Fakirmohan

Senapati,

an

Odia

writer,

by

analyzing

the

discourse

of

his

biography.

All the linguistic movements in colonial India lead to the demand/desire for autonomy in different
spheres and were linked with anti-imperialistic nationalist movement, though, on the contrary, all these
movements had become the mirror image of dominant others nation statist mimic imagination. In this
way, there was a demand for autonomous and pure tool indigenous grammar (free from
adulteration) of a well-defined enumerated and pure language which is selected centrally as a

standard language. Therefore, language-managers of a given community did two things: a) they, as a
member of imagined community, defined the language boundary (i.e. selection of standard and
extension of the standard language from centre to periphery) and b) managed that language with the
help of a tool called grammar.
The author also tried to show the Bengali intellectuals (language judge/-police/-managers) perspectives
(19th. C. and the first three decades of the 20th C) on the issue of autonomy of two neighboring
languages, viz. Oriya and Asamiya, two neighboring languages of Bangla. The paper shows a classical
centre-periphery relation, where Bengal as a centre, wanted to subsume the periphery through
hegemonic selving in course of standardizing and extending the political geography of Bangla with the
supposed language module. The situation shows dialectic of hegemonic inclusion, which creates internal
colonization, and thus captive languages with a feeling of derivative nationalism were trying to combat
external colonization as well. These cases in the colonial period and at the time of the birth of a new
nation states might help us to apprehend the post-colonial withdrawal syndrome from the other
defeated varieties (i.e., so called dialects).
In the paper, , Anekantavada is introduced in the context of Tagores
philosophy through the analysis of Abu S. Ayyub.

For detailed discussion, kindly follow hyperlinks (blue-colored titles):

2015. --: , , [Marx-Rabindranath-Gandhi: Ma-Re-Ga] (Article along with a

review of the collection Debating Gandhi (Oxford, 2006), edited by A. Raghuramaraju. Pranab
K Chakraborty ed. Interaction. X. (pp. 15-25). ISSN 2277-4335
Download (.pdf)

2015. ( Wild Rabindranath Tagore) Pathik Basu ed. Shrayan Yearbook 2015. (pp.8698) Kolkata: Shrayan. Download (.pdf)

2014. O King, Stop Killing Deer Of Our Hermitage: Environmental Consciousness In Indian
Science And Technology . National Seminar on Science and Technology in Ancient India.
University Grants Commission; Dept of Sanskrit, Lalbaba College, Belur; Ramkrishna Mission
Vidyamandir. Nov 18, 2014.
Download (.pptx)

2011. (-) " [City and Village" & "(Non-) Economist Rabindranath Tagore]",
Sengupta, Arnab ed. Akkha(r)jatra. IX:11. (pp.7-46) Belghoria, Kolkata Reprinted in 2011. Barun
Kumar Chakroborty ed. Anna Rabindranath, Nana Rabindranath. (pp.336-360), Kolkata: Pustak
Bipani. ISBN 81-85471-106-1.
Download (.pdf)

2011. Review of the book "Rabindranath: vakpatih visvamanah Vol I"

, .10/09/10/2011 (Book Review Pg. 4) 5:91. Kolkata. RNI:
WBBEN/2006/ 17404 Download (.pdf)

2008. '' - . [Travelling With The Universe] Bektitto, Somiti, Santobiplab.

[Personality, Horizontal Praxis and peaceful Revolution] Ed. Basu, Pathik. Kolkata: Shrayan.
(pp.188-223) Download (.pdf)

2006. (The Governance of Translation and Ekalavya's Thumb).

Rabindranaths Translation of Eliots Journey of the Magi and the plurality of translations.
Kolkata: Janapadaprayas. ISBN-81-902893-1-4 Download (.pdf)

2006. (Bangla: A Genealogical Fantasy). SOtobOrser aloke bONgo bhONgo,

Kolkata: Pustak Bipani. (pp. 426- 447). First published in 2005.Chattopadhyay, D. ed. Parikatha.
VII:2 (pp. 320-40) Download (.pdf)

1999. (Abu. S. Ayyub and Literary Theory).

Janapadaprayas.6.I :3-4 (pp .23-76)January. Chuchrah Download (.pdf)

1997. Language-planner Rabindranath.Pondicherry Institute of Language and Culture Journal

of Dravidian Studies. VIII:1. (pp.89-95). Download (.pdf)

1992.(with Debnath,S.) : [Stylstic Interpretation by Statisticians:

Tagores Short Stories.]Samatat:93. Kolkata. (pp.515- 520). R.N. 18270/69, ISSN0036-374X.
Download (.pdf)

1991. [your scepter of morals]Ei katha. 8: 16. Kolkata. (pp.5- 13 ) Decl No.
108/82.
Download (.pdf)

1985. Dantes Portrait by Rabindranath Tagore?! Pratikkhan. II: 13. 2 June, 1985 (pg. 11)
Kolkata. Response to Purnendu Patri's Article on "Rabindranather Dante" (2-16 May, 1985)
Download (.pdf)

1985. . Brahmachari Achyatu Caitanya ed. Arindam. Ramkrishna

Bimalananda Math. Annul Number. (page not mentioned) Kolkata.

Download (.pdf)