A Reading of Tagore’s ‘Children’s Literature’ as Cultural Counter-Sites https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683894

A Reading of Tagore’s ‘Children’s Literature’ as Cultural Counter-Sites

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683894

Author(s): Abhik Ganguly

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683894

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Volume 15 | Issue 4 | August 2024

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The Criterion: An International Journal in English Vol. 15, Issue-IV, August 2024 ISSN: 0976-8165
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A Reading of Tagore’s ‘Children’s Literature’ as Cultural Counter-Sites
Abhik Ganguly
Junior Research Fellow,
Department of English,
University of Delhi.
Article History: Submitted-09/07/2024, Revised-14/08/2024, Accepted-24/08/2024, Published-31/08/2024.
Abstract:
In its very essence, nonsense literature subverts the cultural hegemonic tropes of a society.
It fundamentally uses humor in caricaturing those tropes to evoke anti-establishment ethos.
Rabindranath Tagore’s “Khapchara” (1936) dissects a multitude of issues from colonial Bengal,
falling under the larger spectrum of socio-cultural themes.
The marginalization of ‘nonsense literature’ as a literary space marks its existence as a
heterotopia. Michel Foucault defines heterotopia as “counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted
utopia in which the real sites, all the other real sites that can be found within the culture, are
simultaneously represented, contested and inverted.”
This paper seeks to trace how Tagorean nonsense acted as a heterotopia,
demolishing certain entrenched ways of comprehending ‘sense’ in colonial times, eventually
highlighting new uncharted ways of understanding that very ‘sense’ and how his ‘nonsense’ still
holds extreme relevance in making ‘sense’ out of the neoliberal Indian society in the twenty-first
century.
Keywords: Rabindranath Tagore, nonsensical literature, children’s literature, colonial
Bengal, Foucault, heterotopia.
Introduction
Rabindranath Tagore was a Bengali polymath whose genius spanned diverse formats, such
as art, literature, and education policies. Born to the Zamindari family of Thakurs (anglicized as
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.13683894

A Reading of Tagore’s ‘Children’s Literature’ as Cultural Counter-Sites
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https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10448030
Tagores), Rabindranath Tagore was directly beneficiary of the Bengal Renaissance. Since many
immediate members of Tagore’s family were luminaries of this movement, later on, Tagore
himself became an exponent of this movement as he too espoused the values of humanism,
universalism, and opposition to nationalism in his artistic works.
Tagore was born at an intersection of time and space, where the arrival of the West had
stormed the stagnancy of the Indian episteme, and a new awakening was sweeping over the region
in the form of the Bengal Renaissance. Its initial impact blinded the Indian intelligentsia, turning
many early reformers into irrational followers of the West. Though when Tagore came of age, the
first naive admiration had worn off, the ideals introduced by the West remained ever-present. “At
the same time, there was growing recognition of the values of India’s own heritage. The time was
therefore opportune for the emergence of a genius who could unite in himself eastern and western
values” (Kabir 6).
In Sandhya Sangeet, one of his early poetry collections, he muses on the conundrum of
existence. He also demonstrates an early recognition of the unloveliness that follows when man’s
selfishness masquerades as love. The philosophical strain deepens and intensifies in Naivedya, but
arguably, the best union of intellect and emotion is in Balaka. The poetry in Balaka reflects a
synthesis of thought and feeling that has altered ontological inquiry. Eventually, this culminated
in Khapchara, where he dissects many issues from colonial Bengal, falling under the larger
spectrum of socio-cultural themes that still plague neoliberal Indian society.
Starting from childhood, Tagore would write poetry that would catch the fancy and
imagination of Bengali literary critics. Contemporary and retrospective critiques have deeply
analyzed his poems, plays, and novels. However, one genre that has received a lot less attention is
that of his essays, where Tagore has been equally illuminating on the conception of an indigenous
literary aesthetic, such as that of oral folklore-inspired children’s literature.
The academician Suchismita Sen believes that “the problem is further by the fact that
Tagore approached the subject not as a scholar but as a typically romantic poet extolling the virtues
of these simple, compositions. Nevertheless, the ideas that are articulated in need a fresh review
because of their relevance to current scholarship oral poetry” (5).
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In the Indian context, scholars have traced the trend of the development of nonsense in its
oral forms to folk traditions. Lullabies, nursery rhymes, folk theatre, folk narrative, and other
nonsense-like folk material abound in India. Still, outside of the English-influenced spaces of India
(especially West Bengal, Orissa, and Maharashtra), nonsense is not widely utilized as a literary
style by writers and poets.
This irreverence is rooted in Sukumar Ray’s work, where he uses nonsensical verse to
satirize the power structures of the colonial regime in Bengal. Not only is Ray’s invention a
rebellion against the British but also an aesthetic achievement where “it helps to distinguish the
nonsense form from other Indian literary forms” (Heyman et al. 52).
The system of Indian arts and aesthetics is intended to elicit complex emotional responses
from the viewer. These effects, which include eight rasas, are precisely specified and categorized
according to Bharata Muni’s Nāṭya Śāstra (200 A.D.), an ancient Hindu treatise on arts and
aesthetics. The ninth rasa was added by the Kashmiri Shaivite philosopher Abhinavagupta (11th
Century A.D.) in Abhinavabhāratī. Each rasa represents a different emotional state:
hāsya (comic),
śṛṅgāra
(erotic),
raudra
(furious),
vīra
(heroic),
bībhatsa (odious),
bhayānaka (terrible), adbhuta (marvellous), and Śānta (peace). All forms of highly evolved and
serious art ought to evoke a blend of these rasas.
Tagore further categorized it with the recognition of an altogether separate rasa that
children’s chhoda (verses) occupied: “There are nine rasas in our aesthetic theory. But, the chada
(or chhoda), meant for children, contains a kind of rasa which does not fit into any of the nine
rasas. The beauty of this rhyme can be called, baalras [children’s rasa]. It is neither thick nor
pungent. It is, rather, clear, innocent, beautiful, and that which cannot be related to anything” (3).
The source of Bengali nonsense could be traced from the pure delight of overturning
imposed restrictions, such as respecting the societal norms of caste and class without any critical
thought, besides criticizing the rigidity of hegemony as power structures in order to create a piece
of art that serves the purpose where people “live with such apparent opposing dualities, even to
enjoy them” (Heyman et al. 40).

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Nonsensical Children’s Literature as Heterotopias
Heterotopia is a term coined by the French philosopher Michel Foucault to describe social,
cultural, and discursive spaces that are ‘other’ in a way that could be unpleasant, intense, or perhaps
even contradictory. Heterotopias are other realities that reflect and distort the real world. Ships,
graves, bars, brothels, Persian gardens, and many other examples are provided by Foucault.
It is a form of heterotopia to define “real” as including tangible spaces inside the
constructed narrative realm. The realm of nonsensical literature is heterotopic, outside of the
conventional order of things and functions according to alternative rules. Tagore’s nonsense in
children’s literature ranges from the realistic, such as incisive commentaries on Bengal’s cultural
and social decay under colonial rule, to the fantastic, where the characters inhabit a world that is
foreign and imperceptible to our order—still in Bengal, but with its own set of rules and
regulations.
Foucault philosophizes the concept of “spaces” by noting that human life is still ruled by
several unalterable oppositions that societal and cultural norms have not yet ventured to breach.
“These are oppositions that we regard as simple givens: for example between private space and
public space, between family space and social space, between cultural space and useful space,
between the space of leisure and that of work. All these are still nurtured by the hidden presence
of the sacred” (Foucault et al. 2).
He continues by discussing the realm of essential awareness, which is also referred to as
the realm of dreaming. “There is a light, ethereal, transparent space, or again, a dark, rough,
encumbered space; a space from above, of summits, or on the contrary a space from below of mud;
or again a space that can be flowing like sparkling water, or space that is fixed, congealed, like
stone or crystal” (Foucault et al. 3).
Tagore’s views on children’s literature and their conception also stem from this space of
primary perception, or the space of dreaming. Where the child is not conditioned like the adult to
have the power of discrimination between truth and falsity. The power of the intellect to
discriminate is significantly weaker in children by nature. As a result, it is easier for them to
imagine and even inhabit spaces subversive in nature.
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Tagore writes: “Both the external world and his own imaginings strike him disjunctly, one
after another. Any tie upon the mind is oppressive to him. It is hard for him to follow a matter
through from beginning to end by a linked chain of cause and effect. He happily sits and builds
sandcastles by the shores of both the external world and the world of his mind. Sand does not bind
together, its structures do not last; but that very absence of cohesiveness makes it the ideal material
for such childish edifices” (106).
Foucault categorizes six such principles for heterotopias, which would be used to trace how
Tagorean nonsense acted as a heterotopia, demolishing certain entrenched ways of comprehending
‘sense’ in colonial times, eventually highlighting new uncharted ways of understanding that very
‘sense’ and how his ‘nonsense’ still holds extreme relevance in making ‘sense’ out of the neoliberal
Indian society in the twenty-first century.
The first principle is called crisis heterotopias, which is when “there are privileged or
sacred or forbidden places, reserved for individuals who are, in relation to society and to the human
environment in which they live, in a state of crisis” (Foucault et al. 4). Heterotopias of
transgression can likewise take the place of these heterotopias of crisis. Psychiatric facilities, jails,
and nursing homes, according to Foucault, are all heterotopias of deviation.
An instance of a crisis heterotopia can be found in “Lyric No 10”, where Tagore writes, “I
really eat very less / To keep myself thin and slim” (Tagore 13). To preserve an ideal “kinkor-
kinkori” in his home, the protagonist Tinkari consumes less food. Ironically, the poem portrays
Calcutta’s impoverished state in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The colonized
subjects always lived in a state of crisis. More often than not, these crises were manufactured by
the (mis)management of the British Raj in the form of countless famines that ravaged the land of
the Bengal Presidency.
However, this heterotopia of crisis transforms into a heterotopia of deviance when Tagore
tears the role of “babus” down with “Lyric No. 97”, whose protagonist is Khudiram or Khudubabu
as he mentions him sitting idly “in the sun” (Tagore 134) and singing a song. The poetry
simultaneously conveys deliberate idleness. However, the poem also depicts the typical Calcuttan
culture of colonial Babus, who were known for their laziness and sluggishness in clerical work.
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Since the middle of the 20th century, the term “babu” has been used often and derogatorily
to refer to bureaucrats of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and other officials in the
government, notably by the Indian media. The state apparatus of bureaucracy is also referred to as
‘babudom,’ as in the ‘rule of babus,’ by the mainstream Indian media. Readers can experience the
heterotopia’s subversive force because of Tagore’s involvement in these verses, which permits
growth and evolution. As they progress through the heterotopic regions of these nonsensical verses
toward an awareness of individuality, imagination, and identity, the reader also goes through a
succession of these transformations.
The second principle of heterotopia is the relationship between a heterotopic space and
how it progresses with time. “This description of heterotopias is that a society, as its history
unfolds, can make an existing heterotopia function in a very different fashion; for each heterotopia
has a precise and determined function within a society and the same heterotopia can, according to
the synchrony of the culture in which it occurs, have one function or another” (Foucault et al. 5).
This can be most well understood in “Lyric 60” of Khapchara, wherein he writes:
“An eminent Engineer designs the plan
To build a bridge.
The bridge collapses, as usual,
And disappears into an unknown land” (Tagore 71).
An interpretation of this lyric from a Foucauldian analytic framework shows that the
“bridge” here is the second principle of heterotopia. The bridge is chiefly emblematic of two
concepts, the first being the supposed modernity of technology that colonizers would often bring
into colonies (for their commerce and not for the colonized subjects).
The second being how it doesn’t last that long, symbolizing the rampant corruption that
lurked under the transformation (with the bridge’s disappearance) that takes place with the
progression of time. The bridge, which was earlier a symbol of colonial modernity in Tagore’s
sharp-satirical, nonsensical verse, had transformed into a symbol of the incompetent and corrupt
engineering practices of the colonizers.
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The third principle espoused by Foucault is that of a juxtaposition of incompatible spaces.
An example of this can be seen in the space of the theater, where it “brings onto the rectangle of
the stage, one after the other, a whole series of places that are foreign to one another; thus it is that
the cinema is a very odd rectangular room, at the end of which, on a two-dimensional screen, one
sees the projection of a three-dimensional space” (Foucault et al. 6).
Similarly, Tagore’s Khapchara can be seen as a project of juxtaposition of incompatible
sites. The first incompatible site is the space of nonsense in the West that inspired Tagore, as
“modern or literary nonsense in India is a hybrid product that arose from colonial contact”
(Satpathy et al. 56). Whereas the second incompatible site is that of traditional chhora (rhymes),
which Tagore believed was instead inspired by the Rig Veda, the most ancient scripture of Hindus,
as he writes, “The Rig Veda was put together in ancient times out of hymns to Indra, Chandra, and
Varuna. These rhymes have a similar origin, from the hymns of the maternal heart to its twin gods,
Khoka and Putu. Both sets of texts are of venerable ancestry: for the antiquity of the rhymes is not
a chronological antiquity; they are naturally ancient” (Tagore et al. 123).
Thus, Tagore’s project acts as a heterotopia, bridging the seemingly incompatible traditions
of the West and East. Combining the English tradition and native Indian traditions of nonsense,
Khapchara takes part in its aim to paint a picture of colonial Bengal with the sharp strokes of satire
in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and to reflect the power structures of society from inside.
The fourth heterotopia has been broadly categorized by Foucault as ‘slices of time’. When
men arrive at an instance of ultimate break with their conventional standard of time in the
situational context of tradition, then this heterotopia starts to operate at its optimum capacity. There
are two types of heterotopias: heterotopia, which is eternal, and heterotopia, which is temporal in
nature.
For the latter, Foucault explains them as being “not oriented toward the eternal, they are
rather absolutely temporal [chroniques]” (Foucault et al. 7). An example of this space is perhaps
most evident in the depiction of the clash between tradition and modernity in Khapchara. “Listen,
NeyamotDorji! / I no longer like the old fashion” says Nilubabu in “Lyric No. 93,” expressing his
disenchantment with traditionalism. Subsequently, Nilubabu exclaims, “Oh, what a surprise!”
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(Tagore 129) as Neyamot Miah fashions a garment with buttons on the back of the dress instead
of the front.
In this lyric, Tagore examines the urban propensity for the movement of colonial
modernity. According to Tagore, blind adherence to this modernity or rejection of traditionalism
would not be appropriate. The colonial subject has obviously reached an ultimate break in their
tradition, and the link of continuity has been broken.
Philosophically, Tagore advocates inhabiting both the spaces of eternity and temporality.
The objective of Tagore’s exercise is to get the colonized subjects out of their cocoons and help
them properly synthesize tradition and the modern world. Tagore’s nonsensical literature in
Khapchara remains relevant to the postcolonial present, where he ought to be critically analyzed
“not as sage or prophet, not as a thinker who ought to be canonised over and above any other
thinker, but as a historical figure whose thought and action constituted a complex and often
contradictory intervention in a moment of profound historical importance: the end of European
imperialism and the beginning of a post-imperial world in which the modern European nation state
became a universal model of political community” (Collins 154).
The fifth principle, as per Foucault, is based on public spaces that are exclusive, where
almost anyone can “enter into the heterotopic sites, but in fact that is only an illusion—we think
we enter where we are, by the very fact that we enter, excluded” (Foucault et al. 8). An example
of this can be traced to the institution of marriage that Tagore takes digs at in Khapchara.
He criticizes the institution of marriage in “Lyric No. 24” with the lines, “Father-in-Law
cries for his Daughter/ The Groom laughs ironically!” (Tagore 29). The custom of getting married
is openly parodied by Tagore, who introduces Nobu in “Lyric No. 71” and shows how he manages
to let go of his worries by marrying five times. “These Tagorean verses echo Sukumar Ray’s poem
Sat-Patra (A Marriage is Announced) where the name Gangaram is used to poke fun at the
institution of arranged marriage” (Hoque 95).
Both “Lyric No. 48” and “Lyric No. 49” dispute the dowry system, which was common
during colonial times and regrettably is still in place throughout South Asia’s many castes, classes,
and ethnic groups. “In 2021, reported dowry death cases in India amounted to nearly 6.8 thousand”
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(Rathore). Dowries are a difficult and contentious feature of the Indian cultural landscape because
they can be interpreted as a paradoxical space that reflects and distorts the ideals of the institution
of marriage, where women are permitted to enter but are nonetheless excluded from making their
own choices and having to be forcibly financially reliant on their husbands.
Heterotopias have one last attribute: they have a function concerning the residual space.
Between two polar extremes, this function emerges. Either they play a part in creating an
illusionary space that renders all actual spaces, all locations where human life is divided, even
more fictitious. Instead, it is their responsibility to design a different, actual space that is as flawless
and well-organized as our own, which is poorly built, and disorganized.
This latter kind would be a heterotopia that prioritizes compensation over illusion. This
analysis of comparative spaces is noticeable in Khapchara, where Tagore lambasts the space of
colonial education and instead develops his own space of indigenous education, which is far more
inclusive and egalitarian.
Conclusion
Through his nonsensical lyrics, Tagore also pokes fun at the educational system of British
colonialism. As an illustration, in “Lyric No. 3,” he adds, “Matilal Nandy yawns at the school”
(Tagore 4). This yawning motion serves as a potent allegory for a ferocious critique of the colonial
educational system. Through the character of Bholanath, Tagore harshly critiques the colonial
educational system in “Verse No. 63,” where Bholanath is lauded for “writing more despite being
mathematically wrong” (Tagore 88).
The educational venture that Tagore started at Santiniketan by founding the Brahmacharya
Ashram in 1901 reflects his worldview. A special effort was made in this school to get the students
as close to nature as possible. In the truest sense, this institution was an outdoor school. Far from
the supposed civilized view of the colonizers’ educational system, Tagore raised a brand-new
generation of kids in an environment characterized by spontaneity and freedom. “Like the famous
Arab Sufi mystic Khalil Gibran, Tagore was a great lover of children’s innocence and a staunch
advocate of their freedom. He has emphasised this idea repeatedly in his writings” (Salamatullah
135).
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In contrast, the colonial education spaces were designed to act as exclusive spaces even for
the children of natives where the main intention was to produce clerks for their purpose of
commerce and erode the Indian consciousness so that the British could continue to rule over the
Indian subcontinent without any hassle. Tagore believed freedom and play were two extremely
essential concepts for learning. He placed so much emphasis on them that not even Mahatma
Gandhi’s 1937 Basic National Education proposal could escape his criticism.
Tagore’s in-depth consideration of the global scenario in an eventual postcolonial world led
to the conception of Visva-Bharati in his imagination. He saw this institution of higher learning as
a place where the entire world nestles together. Its foundations included a broad understanding of
internationalism. “Visva-Bharati is the embodiment of this idea. It provides a unique opportunity
to study both the cultures of East and West so that one can have a correct understanding of the
contributions made by different peoples to the cultural heritage of mankind in the sphere of art and
literature, religion and philosophy and so on” (Salamatullah 138).

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