Pradip Kumar Datta

Rabindranath Tagore's The Home and the World: Modern Essays in Criticism - Anthem South Asian Studies Pradip Kumar Datta

Jacket Description/Back: Designed as a companion to Rabindranath Tagore's 'Ghare-Baire' ("The Home and the World"), the ten essays in this volume cover the novel in terms of the complexity of colonial modernity. Taking into account Tagore's critique of religious nationalism and the historical processes, in which the novel is embedded, the authors examine questions of gender, nationalism and the novel form. Issues of gender such as the creations of modern selfhood, the problems of representing the woman as the nation and the crises of masculinity are discussed. Similarly, Tagore's critique of Hindu nationalism is evaluated by its many-sided implications: contextual resonances, anticolonial vision of social relationships and collective subjectivity, as well as by its aporias. The book will be of great value and interest to those studying Indian literature, post-coloniality, gender representations and nationalism. This work represents an important contribution to interdisciplinary and cultural studies of the Indian sub-continent. Biographical Note: Pradip Kumar Datta is a Reader in English at Sri Venkateswara College, Delhi University. He has published articles on literatures in English, Indian writing in English and Bengali, and modern Indian history. Table of Contents: Acknowledgements; Introduction, 1. Many Faces of Love: Country, Woman, and God in The Home and the World;2. A Sentimental Education: Love and Marriage in The Home and the World; 3. The Form of The Home and the World; 4. Passionate Involvement: Love and Politics in Satyajit Ray's Ghare Baire; 5. Homeboys: Nationalism, Colonialism, and Gender in The Home and the World; 6. Gora and The Home and the World: The Long Quest for Modernity; 7. Ghare Baire in Its Times; 8. Anandamath and The Home and the World; 9. Ghare Baire and Its ReadingsMarc Notes: Reprint. Originally published: Delhi: Permanent Black, 2003.; Includes bibliographical references. Publisher Marketing: Designed as a companion to Rabindranath Tagore's 'Ghare-Baire' (The Home and the World), the ten essays in this volume cover the novel in terms of the complexity of colonial modernity. Taking into account Tagore's critique of religious nationalism and the historical processes, in which the novel is embedded, the authors examine questions of gender, nationalism and the novel form. Issues of gender such as the creations of modern selfhood, the problems of representing the woman as the nation and the crises of masculinity are discussed. Similarly, Tagore's critique of Hindu nationalism is evaluated by its many-sided implications: contextual resonances, anticolonial vision of social relationships and collective subjectivity, as well as by its aporias. The book will be of great value and interest to those studying Indian literature, post-coloniality, gender representations and nationalism. This work represents an important contribution to interdisciplinary and cultural studies of the Indian sub-continent.

Contributor Bio:  Datta, Pradip Kumar Pradip Kumar Datta teaches at the Political Science Department, Delhi University in a multidisciplinary post. He has published articles on literatures in English, Indian Writing in English and Bengali as well as modern Indian history.