In my mind, the question is asking to assess what Tagore gave to
Indian Literature translated into English. Part of what makes Tagore such a compelling figure in
Indian Literature is that he is not writing in English. At a time when so many believed that
English was right and indigenous forms of expression were wrong, Tagore pretty much invented the
short story in Bengali. His embrace of both social realism and transcendent themes were all
composed in his native tongue, making his contributions to the Indian literary canon powerfully
compelling and highly significant. Tagore was also one of the first artists of a "globalized"
world. This means that his contributions were even more significant because they spoke for a
condition of Indians, as well as people all over the world. This was because Tagore had been
exposed to literature that many in India had not experienced. Tagore integrated these artists'
work into his own:
...other influences on Tagore were British colonialism
.... Because of colonialism, he was exposed early in life to the literature of William
Shakespeare, John Milton, and George Gordon, Lord Byron, who became his particular favorites, as
well as the philosophy of John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. Other literary influences (Tagore
read them in their original languages) included Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Guy de
Maupassant.
This ability to combine
other literary voices into his own is what makes Tagore responsible for a giant contribution to
Indian English Literature.
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