The pathography of nationalism: Tagore’s critique of the idea of the nation

Abstract

Using the metaphors of the hydraulic press, stinging nettle, father turning into a gambler, giraffe whose head is far from its body, Tagore brings out the egoist and exploitative nature of the modern nation-state. This paper argues that although Tagore’s critique of nationalism has been at the backdrop of the First World War and the rise of Fascism, it is relevant in the modern context of the rise of the capitalist nation-state and the rise of Hindu Nationalism. Finally, it explains how Tagore’s counterglobality is not just the resistance of the local to the global, but rather a unique mode of forging a new kind of relationship.