Rabindranath Tagore and his Discourses on Politics, Nationalism and Decolonization: Translations with a Critical Introduction of Select Public Lectures (Studies in Commonwealth Writings)

This book examines the largely unrecognized contributions of Rabindranath Tagore to early anti-imperialist thought within postcolonial studies. Despite producing a substantial body of politically engaged public speeches from the early 1890s onward, Tagore has remained absent from dominant academic discourses, primarily due to the inaccessibility of his writings, originally composed and delivered in Bengali. No systematic effort has been made to translate these works into English with the aim of deciphering their decolonial insights. This volume seeks to address this gap by presenting annotated translations of twelve explicitly political essays, composed or delivered as public lectures between 1890 and 1910―a period of Tagore’s intense nationalist activity in India. These texts, either overtly political or infused with strong political undertones, offer critical perspectives on colonialism and nationalism, making them essential to contemporary discussions in postcolonial and decolonial studies. Read more