ABSTRACT
Although largely overlooked as a children’s author, the Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (1861–1941) not only produced an impressive and diverse body of writing for children, but he also played an active role in shaping the field of Bengali children’s literature in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. 1 From the nostalgic reminiscences of his childhood in Boyhood Days [Chhelebela] (1940), a memoir written for young readers shortly before his death, to poems, plays, and short stories which celebrate, in Romantic fashion, Nature and the imagination of the child, Tagore’s immense contribution to the development of Bengali children’s literature has yet to receive the critical attention that it deserves. I will here focus on how Tagore’s complex and evolving views on the British Empire and the Indian national movement are represented in his writings for younger audiences. While it has been well documented by Ashis Nandy, among others, that Tagore’s works repeatedly address his reservations about nationalism, especially the more violent and revolutionary manifestations of it in early twentieth-century India, there has been very little emphasis on how he approached the idea of Indian nationalism and the impact of British rule in his children’s texts. I will begin with a brief examination of some of his historical poems for children, penned in the late 1890s and compiled in Legends and Tales [Katha o Kahini] (1908), and then focus on The Land of Cards [Tasher Desh] (1933), a musical drama for young adults, in which Tagore’s views on the oppressive nature of colonial rule and the importance of political, intellectual, and spiritual freedom are clearly articulated.
