সমরেশ বসুর ‘বিবর’ ও ‘দেশ’ পত্রিকার পাঠক প্রতিক্রিয়া/ Samaresh Basu’s Bibor and the Reader Response in Desh

Abstract

In the landscape of twentieth-century Bengali fiction, Samaresh Basu occupies a distinctive and controversial position for his bold engagement with urban modernity and psychological unrest. Written during the turbulent 1960s, ‘Bibar’ reflects the moral anxieties, existential dilemmas, and fractured consciousness of a newly emergent urban middle class. The novel foregrounds themes of alienation, sexuality, and ethical disintegration, compelling readers to confront uncomfortable social realities.

          Upon its publication in ‘Desh’, ‘Bibar’ provoked intense debate, particularly on the question of obscenity. While some readers condemned the work as morally transgressive, others defended it as an honest portrayal of contemporary life. The controversy generated fifty-eight documented reader responses, later included in the third volume of Samaresh Rachanabali.

         This paper examines those responses through the theoretical framework of Reader Response Theory, emphasizing how meaning is not fixed within the text but is actively constructed by readers within specific socio-cultural contexts. By analyzing these contemporary reactions, the study highlights the shifting moral paradigms of the period and demonstrates how literary reception becomes a site of ideological negotiation. The paper ultimately argues that the reception of ‘bibar’ reveals as much about the anxieties of its readership as about the text itself.