Culture, Cohesion, and Creativity in Tagore’s Creative Unity (1922)

Abstract

Creative Unity outlines the philosophical and cultural reflections on the problems of the modern times. The central objective of this paper is to read Tagore vis-à-vis the analytic paradigm of ‘rooted cosmopolitanism’ propounded by Kwame Anthony Appiah. Appiah’s framework is important because it unravels a space for ethical sociality based on ideas and action. By looking at Tagore’s ideas of sociality expressed in Creative Unity, this paper seeks to argue that Tagore’s vision of cosmopolitanism vastly predates Appiah’s idea of rooted cosmopolitanism. Furthermore, Tagore’s ideas of creative unity and communicative actions generate a unique response to the cultural and historical anxieties of the times.