Sum ergo cogito: Tagore as a Thinker and Tagore as a Poet, and the Relationship between the Two

Abstract

With special attention to Tagore’s two plays Bisarjan and Acalāyatan the paper considers to what extent Tagore’s thought as expounded in his lectures and essays in English and Bengali is relevant to the understanding of his literary works. Are there dangers in reading his works through the filter of his ideas and ideals? Would his creative works seem different if we pretended that his discursive writings did not exist? The paper addresses such questions in order to suggest a fresh approach to Tagore in his 150th anniversary year (2011).

Keywords

• Tagore
• Tagore’s thought
• Tagore’s paintings
• Tagore’s plays
• Sacrifice
• Acālayatan