Rabindranath Tagore’s views on nationalism

Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) was a Nobel laureate poet, novelist, playwright and educator from India. He was also a prominent critic of nationalism and imperialism in the early 20th century.

Tagore believed that nationalism was a narrow and destructive ideology that divided humanity and exploited the weak. He saw nationalism as a form of idolatry that replaced God with the nation and violated the universal values of humanism and spirituality.

Tagore opposed the political and commercial aggressiveness of Western nations, especially Britain, which colonized and exploited India and other parts of Asia and Africa. He also criticized Japan for its militarism and expansionism in China and Korea.

Tagore advocated for a cosmopolitan and inclusive culture that transcended national boundaries and respected the diversity of races, religions and languages. He envisioned a world where people could cooperate and exchange ideas freely without fear or hatred.

Tagore expressed his views on nationalism in various writings, such as his lectures Nationalism (1917), Creative Unity (1922) and The Religion of Man (1931), his essays “The Nation” (1916) and “The Call of Truth” (1922), his novels Gora (1910) and The Home and the World (1916), and his poems “Where the Mind is Without Fear” (1910) and “The Sunset of the Century” (1899).