দেহ-রাজনীতি ও ক্লিনিক্যাল ডিটাচমেন্ট : বনফুলের ‘বুধনী’ ও মোপাসাঁ-র ‘মাদমোয়া জেল ফিফি’-তে ন্যাচারালিজম ও ফ্রয়েডীয় দর্শনের একটি তুলনামূলক পাঠ/ Body-Politics and Clinical Detachment: A Comparative Study of Naturalism and Freudian Perspective in Bonophul’s '

Abstract

This research paper presents a comparative analysis of the artistic techniques and philosophical underpinnings in the short stories of the eminent 20th-century Indian litterateur Bonophul (Balai Chand Mukhopadhyay) and the 19th-century French naturalist Guy de Maupassant. The primary focus of this study centers on Bonophul’s Budhni and Maupassant’s Mademoiselle Fifi. Both authors, despite their distinct geographical and temporal contexts, share a profound sense of ‘Clinical Detachment’, a diagnostic gaze that dissects social and psychological malaises without moral bias.

            Drawing upon the tenets of French Naturalism, as proposed by Émile Zola, and the psychoanalytical theories of Sigmund Freud, this paper explores the manifestations of ‘The Human Beast’ (Le Bête Humaine) within the protagonists. It argues that both stories depict the fragility of civilization and the dominance of primal instincts, specifically focusing on ‘Body-Politics’ and the male ‘Sense of Ownership’ over the female form. In Budhni, the protagonist’s possessive love transcends social morality, leading to a tragic collision between paternal ego and maternal instinct. Conversely, in Mademoiselle Fifi, the Prussian invasion serves as a backdrop for a perverse display of sexual and political dominance, where the female body becomes a symbolic battlefield of nationalistic pride.

            Furthermore, the paper employs the lens of Subaltern Studies to contrast the ‘Silence’ of Budhni with the ‘Agency’ of Rachel, evaluating how marginalization dictates their responses to oppression. By examining the dialectics of Eros and Thanatos (Life and Death instincts), the research unveils how biological determinism governs human behavior across cultures. Ultimately, this study aims to establish that the depiction of primal dominance and the pathology of gender-based violence in these works transcend local boundaries, offering a universal case study of the human condition.