Shesher Kobita as Tagore’s response to Modernism

Modernism, in its broadest sense is the expression of modern thought, character and
practice. As a cultural movement it was a revolt against the conservative values of the
realistic society. The distinctive feature of Modernism is however the rejection of the
‘tradition’ and the establishment of the ‘modern’. This rejection of the ‘tradition’ does not
however mean to ignore the ‘past’; rather it means to have a clear idea of the ‘past’ and the
deconstruction of the traditional outlook in order to construct a new order. To be modern is to
build a new idea and it is evidently different for different ages. For instance Dante Alighieri
was modern for his time and his Divina Comedia an essential modern text in respect to the
early 15th century Florentine culture; similarly Christopher Marlowe and William
Shakespeare too were ahead of their time and their tragedies and comedies can be considered
to be ‘modern’ in comparison to the other theatrical plays belonging to the British culture in
the 16th and the early 17th century. Shesher Kobita, which was initially published as a serial
novel in the magazine ‘Probashi’ in 1928, can be considered as Rabindranath Tagore’s
response to Modernism and the Modernist cultural movement that was gaining its popularity
in the ‘western world’.

Rabindranath Tagore’s Shesher Kobita, in itself is a modernist text and its protagonist,
Amito, a modernist character in his existence. Rabindranath, himself has been critical
towards the Bengali social character and its tendencies to preserve the past. He has also
voiced his concerns regarding the preservation of the Bengali tradition, which actually do act
as a hindrance towards the emergence of the ‘modern’.

Amito’s character in Shesher Kobita, reminds us of Chaturanga’s Jhyathamoshai, both,

as drawn by Tagore, is overtly practical and is quite explicit in their expression to criticise the
traditional and the orthodox society. Both these characters, as we can term them are
extremely ‘modern’ in their quality, their reason and their temperament. Amito, however
criticises everything that he considers as traditional and at times the reader is given an
expression by the novelist that his criticisms are merely carried forward for the sake of
opposing the society at all points.

Though Amito, the protagonist of Rabindranath’s Shesher Kobita, is ‘modern’ in terms

of intellectual outlook, yet he usually dresses up like a traditional Bengali, wearing ‘dhuti’

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and ‘panjabi’, which again marks him as an evidently different character from the rest of the
society. His two sisters, Sisi and Lisi, just like the other young women who belonged to the
class of society in which Amito belonged to, were outwardly ‘modern’ and fashionable in
terms of their outfit. But according to the protagonist as well as the writer it was nothing but a
mockery of modernism, where their outlook was archaic and their attitude was hypocritical
and phony. To him, the outfit does not prove whether you are ‘modern’ or not. Rabindranath,
through Amito’s verdict has conveyed the fact that ‘style’ is more important than ‘fashion’.
According to him ‘fashion’ is a mere copy of something which has been repeated in the past
while ‘style’ is creating something new by demolishing the past. This statement in itself is a
trace of the western modernistic thought.

Rabindranath again posits that being ‘modern’ does not indicate that one should be
ignorant about one’s past or the traditional, it is rather criticising the convention; and as a
matter of fact one should be aware of the past and the tradition in order to criticise it. Amito
is well versed with the religious and the traditional books of the Hindu culture as well as the
European literary works and he often quotes from these archaic creations.

The novel also includes a self-reference of the author himself. By the time Shesher
Kobita was being published in the late 1920s, Tagore had become a towering presence in
Bengal and Bengali literature, and was facing criticism from different sections of the society.
As Krishna Dutta and Andrew Robinson puts it in Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-minded
Man, “A younger group of writers were trying to escape from the penumbra of Rabindranath,
often by tilting at him and his work. In 1928 he decided to call a meeting of writers at
Jorasanko and hear them debate the issues”. (Dutta, Robinson). Shortly after this meeting,
while writing this novel, Tagore has Amito railing against a much revered poet, whose name
turns out to be Rabi Thakur. Amito remarks,

“কিবমাে র উিচত পাঁচ-বছর ময়ােদ কিব করা, পঁিচশ থেক ি শ

পয । এ কথা বলব না য পরবিতেদর কাছ থেক আরও ভাল িকছু
চাই, বলব অন িকছু চাই।… রিব িব ে সব চেয় বড় নািলশ এই
য, বুেড়া ওঅ ওঅেথর নকল কের ভ েলাক অিত অন ায়রকম
বঁেচ আেছ।” (Tagore)

These remarks aroused much amusement among the audience, but more importantly
this statement holds value in terms of modernism. The author’s appeal to the society is not
that for something greater or better but for something fresh and young. He breaks his own

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towering presence and criticises himself as something traditional or archaic which should be
replaced by the modern. Here is an example of an author who has the audacity to demolish his
own poetic ego and criticise himself in order to be the torchbearer of Bangla modernist
culture.

Through the character of Amito, Rabindranath had portrayed a ‘modern’ man, a

protagonist who does not stop for a moment before criticising or contradicting the petty
traditional values. According to him, true love cannot be pursued through the shackles of
marriage. Though Amito and Labannya fell in love with one another and the whole novel is
centred on the negotiations of the relation that they exercised yet they do not bind themselves
in the chains of marriage. Instead they decide on marrying different suitors without the
slightest air of tragedy. According to Amito, “...most barbarians equate marriage with the
union, and look upon the real union thereafter with contempt.” Hence he also justifies his
separation from Labannya and his union with Ketaki,

“ কতকীর সে আমার স ভালবাসারই, িক স যন ঘড়ায় তালা

জল – িতিদন তু লব, িতিদন ব াবহার করব। আর লাবণ র সে
আমার য ভালবাসা স রইল িদিঘ, স ঘের আনবার নয়, আমার মন
তােত সাঁতার দেব।” (Tagore)

This expression of the author, through the words of the protagonist is essentially
modern in its approach, which defies the Bengali-Hindu traditional outlook towards love and
marriage. It is a direct confrontation with the conventional and the long-established socio-
religious order and the marking of a new order, that is to say, the order of the modernist
intellectual outlook.

In order to conclude, it could be commented that Rabindranath Tagore’s Shesher

Kobita, which was composed as early as 1928 in an orthodox Hindu society, is essentially a
modern text which rejects the ‘tradition’ and champions the notion of the ‘modern’. It was a
response on the part of the author towards ‘Modernism’.

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Works Cited

Dutta, K. & Robinson, A. (1995). Rabindranath Tagore: The Myriad-minded Man. St

Martins Pr.

Tagore, R. Shesher Kobita. Vishwabharati University Pub.