Translation of Gitanjali in English: Context, Transformation and Global Appeal

Abstract

This paper analyzes the cross-cultural transfiguration and phenomenal global reception of Rabindranath Tagore’s Gitanjali (Song Offerings) following its historic 1912 translation. Initiated as an intimate creative refuge during a period of Shilaidaha, Tagore’s English rendering evolved from a modest Bengali publication into a monumental literary triumph that earned the East its first Nobel Prize in 1913. Moving beyond literal translation, Tagore, introducing a majestic, archaic diction, and reframing deep indigenous spiritual motifs like ‘Jivandevata’ into localized paradigms of emotional and romantic longing to suit Western sensibilities. Amidst the existential terror of an impending World War, European readers and legendary figures like W.B. Yeats embraced Tagore not merely as an exotic artist, but as a comforting, prophetic soul offering a vital language of spiritual deliverance. Ultimately, by untangling the debates surrounding Yeats’s editorial collaboration, this paper demonstrates how Gitanjali stands as a brilliant, standalone bridge between the hemispheres, demonstrating that its enduring universal appeal lies in its deliberate poetic synthesis of Eastern mysticism and Western reality.