সুলেখা সান্যালের ছোটগল্প : নারী পরিসরের নানা মাত্রা/ Short Stories of Sulekha Sanyal : Diverse Dimensions in Women’s sphere

Abstract

This article examines Sulekha Sanyal’s short stories, focusing on women’s experiences in mid-twentieth-century Bengal. Situating her work within colonial transformation, famine, Partition, and refugee rehabilitation, the study shows how Sanyal foregrounds the everyday realities of marginalised women. Although she wrote before feminist discourse was formally articulated in Indian literature, her stories engage with themes central to feminism, especially the intersection of personal and political concerns of women. Sanyal’s narratives depict women confronting patriarchy, poverty, displacement, and social stigma while seeking to assert agency and dignity. The article analyses stories of Sanyal addressing refugee trauma, sexual exploitation, precarious labour, and maternal challenges. It illustrates how she transforms individual suffering into broader social critique, like the present-day feminist writers. Unlike earlier male-authored works, her female characters are rooted in the lived experience of everyday drudgeries and as the witnesses of the historical episodes, and embody resistance, self-awareness, and evolving identities. The study also traces the transition of women’s roles from domestic confinement to economic participation and intellectual development, reflecting broader societal changes. Ultimately, Sanyal’s work is interpreted in this article as an effort to rewrite history from a female perspective, transforming ‘his-story’ into ‘her-story’ and establishing her as a significant, though systematically overlooked, figure in Bengali literature.