Freedom, An alternative discourse: A Critical reading of Tagore’s ‘Spirit of Freedom’

Abstract

In 1922 when the whole country was ablaze with the fiery spirit of nationalism and a desperate cry for political liberation, Tagore penned an essay ‘Spirit of Freedom’ included in his book Creative Unity. A close scrutiny of this essay reveals how Tagore ventures to construct an alternative discourse of freedom by shifting the focus from the external to the internal world. For Tagore struggle for political liberation is an exercise in fatuity without a corresponding change in the spiritual domain. He defines freedom as an inner state of being, in which the soul of the individual not only emancipates itself from all kinds of servitude to the external material living conditions but also overcomes all temptations to enslave others. Tagore’s essay anticipates the works of such Frankfurt theorists like Herbert Marcuse, Erich Fromm and suggests an idea of inner governmentality and posits true freedom as internal. The essay seeks to examine how the theoretical insights into the nature of human freedom derived from the works of these Western thinkers help us understand and appreciate the enduring relevance of Tagore’s ‘Spirit of Freedom’.