SPECTRAL LABOUR AND FEMININE NATION: DOMESTIC INVISIBILITY, VIOLENCE, AND PEDAGOGIC POWER IN TAGORE’S LITERARY AND INSTITUTIONAL IMAGINATION

Abstract

This article explores the concept of spectral labour—the invisible yet foundational emotional, reproductive, and symbolic work performed by women—within Rabindranath Tagore’s literary and institutional imagination. While Tagore is often celebrated for his progressive portrayal of women and support for their education, his narratives and pedagogical writings frequently reinscribe normative gender roles, aestheticizing women’s labour without granting it material or political recognition. Through close readings of Streer Patra, Jogajog, and Ghare Baire, the article illustrates how Tagore’s female characters embody sacrifice, virtue, and pedagogic power, even as their affective and reproductive roles sustain both familial and national ideologies. Drawing on feminist materialist theory—particularly Silvia Federici, Angela Davis, and Sara Ahmed—the paper argues that the idealization of femininity often functions as symbolic violence. The educational models at Santiniketan and Sriniketan are also examined to show why and how women’s roles as cultural nurturers are affirmed but structurally constrained. Finally, it has been shown that while the notion of spectral labour reveals the gendered foundations of Tagore’s cultural nationalism, it must be situated within his broader pedagogical vision that aimed to harmonize the spiritual and scientific and cultivate human potential as part of a deeper ethical commitment to educational transformation.