Rabindranath Tagore’s India and William Butler Yeats’s Ireland: The Intersection of Classical Languages, Literature, and Nation-Building in Postcolonial East and West

Abstract

Although largely unrelated phenomena, there are striking similarities between the manner in which both Ireland and India drew upon their classical languages as a mechanism for intellectual nation-building upon both states’ withdrawals from the British Empire. After examining this overarching content, the development of a national literary canon is analyzed through the framework of the relationship between the leading literary figures of both nations in the run-up to independence: W. B. Yeats and Rabindranath Tagore. Yeats’ early admiration for Tagore is contrasted with his later disillusionment and demonstrated to be part of his misconception of India as representing an idealized past which Ireland had already surpassed. Though both he and Tagore were critical of the nationalist narratives of their own states — particularly nationalist violence — Yeats’ views were clouded by his relationship with Maud Gonne, while Tagore feared Asian attempts to transform into colonial powers on the model of the West.