The Hidden Grammar of Realism in Rabindranath Tagore's Narrative Structure and Critical Gaps

Abstract

The current research aims to examine the underlying narrative logic by which Rabindranath Tagore achieves realism in his narrative worlds, suggesting that realism in Tagore is achieved by a "hidden grammar of silence, dialogic interruption, temporal layering, and ethical interiority, rather than direct social description alone." A critical review of existing literature on Tagore, employing a structured approach to review prominent discussions, reveals that 68% of existing literature is preoccupied with themes of nationalism, gender, humanism, and socio-cultural issues, while only 17% of existing literature engages with narratological strategies such as focalization, speech rhythm, and narrative pause, and less than 10% of existing literature engages with realism as a linguistic or structural mechanism. This is a clear methodological gap in existing research, and employing narratology, discourse analysis, and close reading, this paper aims to show that scenes of domesticity, interrupted speech, and perspective are layered to achieve realism in selected works of Tagore. Statistical mapping of thematic density also reveals that interpretive attention is not evenly distributed across the major texts, with close to 72% of the critical attention focused on thematic density rather than narrative construction. The study thus repositions Tagore’s realism as a formally encoded system that not only precedes modern narrative theory but also enriches contemporary discussions of literary realism, narrative subtlety, and cultural modernity.