Analyse the contribution of Rabindranath Tagore or Munshi Premchand in the field of Literature. Please answer in 400-500 words.
Answers
Rabindranath Tagore made a significant contribution to literature. He was the first person (except Roosevelt) outside Europe to get the Nobel Prize. He wrote novels, essays, short stories, travelogues, dramas, and thousands of songs. He is well known as a poet. His short stories are very popular. His works have a rhythmic, optimistic and lyrical nature. Mostly the subject matter for his stories is derived from the lives of ordinary people.
Dramas :
He wrote his first original dramatic piece when he was 20. Valmiki Pratibha, Visarjan and Chandalika are some well known dramas written by him. He used more philosophical and allegorical themes in his later dramas.
Short Stories :
He wrote his first short story, 'Bhikharini' or The Beggar Woman, when he was 16 years old. He invented the Bengali language short story genre. From 1891 to 1895, known as Tagore's 'Sadhana' period, he wrote the three volume, Galpaguchchha which contains eighty four stories. These stories showcase Tagore's reflections about his surroundings, on modern and fashionable ideas, and on interesting mind puzzles. These stories were connected with the life of Tagore in the common villages. While managing the vast landholdings of the family he beheld the lives of India's poor and common people. He examined their lives with a penetrative depth and feeling that was singular in Indian literature up to that point. Stories like 'Kabuliwallah' - The Fruitseller from Kabul published in 1892, 'Kshudita Pashan' - The Hungry Stones, August 1895, and 'Atithi - The Runaway, 1895 showed this analytic focus on the downtrodden.
Tagore's stories have furnished subject matter for numerous successful films and theatrical plays. The famous film director Satyajit Ray based his film 'Charulata' - The Lonely Wife, on the story 'Nastanirh' - The Broken Nest. Ray made a memorable film by putting the stories, 'Samapti', 'Postmaster' and 'Monihara' together. The film was named Teen Kanya - 'Three Daughters'. Tapan Sinha, another noted film director made a film on the story, 'Atithi'.
In the story, 'Haimanti', Tagore takes up the institution of Hindu marriage. The 'Strir Patra' describes the dismal lifelessness of Bengali women after marriage and how Haimanti, a sensitive young woman, due to her sensitiveness and free spirit sacrifices her life. In 'Musalmanir golpo' he examines the Hindu Muslim tensions. 'Darpaharan' describes a young man who has literary ambitions and want to curb his wife's literary career. But finally accepts his wife's talents.
Novels :
Chaturanga, Gora, Shesher Kobita, Ghare Baire, Char Odhay, and Noukadubi are some of his novels. Shesher Kobita was translated twice, once as Last Poem and another time as Farewell Song. It is the most lyrical and satirical novel.
Poetry :
Tagore's best known collection of poetry is Gitanjali. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1913 for it. 'Manasi', 'Sonar Tori' - Golden Boat, 'Balaka' - Wild Geese are some other notable works.
Rabindranath Tagore is considered as the pioneer of Bangla literature and culture.
In my mind, the question is asking to assess what Tagore gave to Indian Literature translated into English. Part of what makes Tagore such a compelling figure in Indian Literature is that he is not writing in English. At a time when so many believed that English was right and indigenous forms of expression were wrong, Tagore pretty much invented the short story in Bengali. His embrace of both social realism and transcendent themes were all composed in his native tongue, making his contributions to the Indian literary canon powerfully compelling and highly significant. Tagore was also one of the first artists of a "globalized" world. This means that his contributions were even more significant because they spoke for a condition of Indians, as well as people all over the world. This was because Tagore had been exposed to literature that many in India had not experienced. Tagore integrated these artists' work into his own:
...other influences on Tagore were British colonialism .... Because of colonialism, he was exposed early in life to the literature of William Shakespeare, John Milton, and George Gordon, Lord Byron, who became his particular favorites, as well as the philosophy of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. Other literary influences (Tagore read them in their original languages) included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Guy de Maupassant.
This ability to combine other literary voices into his own is what makes Tagore responsible for a giant contribution to Indian English Literature.
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Rabindranath Tagore embodies the quintessence of Indian culture. He was a renowned scholar, poet, novelist, playwright, lyricist, and painter. With over a thousand poems, two thousand songs, eight novels, twenty-four plays, volumes of short stories, and a mass of prose, this creative genius has been responsible for reshaping India's literature and music scene.
His collection of songs, Rabindrasangeet, has carved itself as a unique genre of music. His songs cover diverse themes and range from devotional hymns to erotic compositions. Tagore has composed the national anthem of two nations—India's "Jana Gana Mana" and Bangladesh's " Amaar Shonaar Bangla."
In 1913, Rabindranath Tagore was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for Gitanjali, his most acclaimed work. A collection of 157 poems, Gitanjali was first published in 1910 but remains perennially relevant.
In 1939, he established an institute called Vishwa Bharati with the money he had received from the Nobel Prize. This university is one of India's most renowned places for higher learning.