Rabindranath Tagore and the Global South: Decolonizing World Literature through Transcultural Humanism

Abstract

Abstract: This study argues that Rabindranath Tagore’s political writings constitute a coherent and critically overlooked body of geopolitical thought with substantial relevance to the twenty-first century. While Tagore is frequently treated as a poet-philosopher or cultural reformer, his engagements with nationalism, civilizational identity, and global interdependence reveal a sustained critique of the power structures shaping modern international relations. Through hermeneutic textual analysis, intellectual-historical reconstruction, and comparative political theory, the research demonstrates that Tagore anticipated many features of the contemporary multipolar world—ranging from the resurgence of civilizational nationalism to the strategic uses of soft power. His reflections on Western Imperial Realpolitik, Asian Modernity, and Ethical Responsibility outline a normative framework that challenges dominant geopolitical paradigms grounded in competition and state-centrism. The study concludes that Tagore offers not an idealistic alternative but a viable ethical model for reimagining global order, making him an essential but under-recognized figure in the intellectual history of world politics.