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Tagore and Nationalism: A Perspective on Italy Imagining the Indian Unity

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Tagore and Nationalism

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Abstract

This chapter presents some considerations about the journeys of Tagore in Italy (1925, 1926) and the links of the poet with the Italian personalities of the period. By reconstructing cultural relations between Bengali intellectuals and Italy between late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, this chapter outlines how the history of Italy served as a model for many Indian thinkers in imagining the road towards Indian unity. On the basis of such fascination, it is safe to argue that the mahakabi approached Italy in an effort to explore the local political situation as well as to promote cultural exchange.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Official greeting of Tagore to Italy on the date of his arrival in Naples, 31 May 1926 (Das 1994, p. 989). The Italian newspaper La Tribuna, 2 June 1926, titled: ‘L’Italia ammantata di luce inestinguibile’ (Prayer 1996, p. 16; Dasgupta 1993, p. 80).

  2. 2.

    Letter to Charles Freer Andrews, Hotel Bristol, Vienna (Austria), 10 July 1926.

  3. 3.

    In the newspaper Corriere della Sera, 10 June 1974.

  4. 4.

    On this occasion, he wrote The Scent of India 1984.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Asia and North African Studies, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, Venice, Italy

    Stefano Beggiora

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  1. Stefano Beggiora
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Correspondence to Stefano Beggiora .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

    K. L. Tuteja

  2. Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Kaustav Chakraborty

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Beggiora, S. (2017). Tagore and Nationalism: A Perspective on Italy Imagining the Indian Unity. In: Tuteja, K., Chakraborty, K. (eds) Tagore and Nationalism. Springer, New Delhi. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3696-2_20

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