Abstract
Rabindranath Tagore has played a major part in national identity formation in Bangladesh. In this twice-born nation, Tagore has been the site of a kind of psychomachia in the battle that has been going on since 1947 for its soul. This paper traces the role Tagore has been playing in the formation of the national imaginary ever since 1948 when the Pakistani state first tried to impose Urdu as the only state language of Pakistan. Even after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, there continue periodic attempts to discredit Tagore as a cultural alien to Bangladeshis, attempts that have resulted in even stronger affirmation of his indispensable role in national development. My paper will thus discuss how the discourses on national identity in Bangladesh have led to the emergence of the widespread belief in Bangladesh that he is part of the national soul or spirit of the country, although it will also note that the debate over him is by no means over.
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Alam, F. (2015). Tagore and National Identity Formation in Bangladesh. In: Banerji, D. (eds) Rabindranath Tagore in the 21st Century. Sophia Studies in Cross-cultural Philosophy of Traditions and Cultures, vol 7. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2038-1_16
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-2038-1_16
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