Tagore, Post Tagore and Eliot

NIWA Kyoko

1930’s is said to be a kind of turning point of modern Bengali poetry. In 1930’s, both Rabindranath Tagore and the younger generation such as Bishnu Dey were active and the author is going to explore the boundary of these poets. The reception of T. S. Eliot will be one of the keys of this consideration.

In 1930’s, there were various controversies in Bengali poetic world regarding poetical style and theme and this is also the time when T. S. Eliot was introduced and widely accepted among younger poets. Rabindranath Tagore once criticized Eliot and“ modern” poetry, but consequently, there appeared two different translations of Eliot’s“ Journey of the Magi” -- one by Rabindranath Tagore and one by Bishnu Dey. The author is going to compare those two translations in order to reveal the difference of poetry making of the two poets as well as the difference of two generations.