সাধনা পর্বে রবীন্দ্র-ছোটগল্পে নির্বাচিত চিত্রকল্পের বৈচিত্র্য/ Diversity of Selected Imagery in Rabindranath's Short Stories during the Sadhana Period

Abstract

Who don't love to imagine are rare. When our desires, stuck in the rules of real life, start to crave fulfillment, imagination opens up endless possibilities. In the world of imagination, our desires easily find a tangible form. Imagination brings freedom, taking us far from reality and adding a unique quality to an artist's thoughts.

           This quality varies depending on one's mind, brain, and environment. The artist's powerful quality brings a constructive and creative method to literature, known as imagery or 'chitrkalpa' in Bengali. When a writer creates a picture with words, conveying their emotions, experiences, or message, and the reader perceives it through their senses or intuition, that's where imagery is born.

          Imagery conveys a writer's thoughts, feelings, and experiences, connecting the writer's heart with the reader's heart.

          The concept of imagery originated from the 'Imagist Movement' in America and England in the early 20th century. In Bengali literature, Abusoyid Ayyub first used the term 'chitrkalpa' in his essay 'The Beautiful and Reality'.

          Many Bengali writers of the 20th century were influenced by this Western concept and incorporated imagery into their work. However, Rabindranath Tagore didn't create imagery under Western influence; it was already present in his work, inspired by Sanskrit literature and Kalidasa's poetry.

          In Tagore's short stories, we find two types of imagery : sensory and abstract. Sensory imagery is more common, and it has several subcategories.

          My essay will explore the diversity of imagery in selected short stories by Rabindranath Tagore.