ABSTRACT
Living and writing as he did in an age of imperialist warfare and national struggle for liberation, it was only natural that Rabindranath Tagore would address himself to the question of nationalism. His ideological position, however, was not of a revolutionary but of a liberal humanist. That position explains why he would not identify Western nationalism as Capitalist-Imperialist and also why he was disinclined to support the violence and arrogance that he felt was the bane of the Indian nationalist movement. The purpose of the chapter is to examine the many-sidedness of Tagore’s engagement with nationalism, putting it in the context of his general ideological inclination and moorings and the currents and cross-currents working behind his engagement.
