Lived experience on the riverbanks: Mohammad Rafiq’s Poetry in the context of class struggle/ মোহাম্মদ রফিকের কবিতায় নদী তীরবর্তী জনজীবন : প্রসঙ্গ শ্রেণিসংগ্রাম

Abstract

Mohammad Rafiq (1943-2023) is a renowned poet of the sixties decade. He achieved excellence and honour in life through his poetry. His poetry has shown an absolute loyalty to the people who lead their lives close to the soil, and extraordinary compassion for the people who live their lives on the banks of the river. Just as the reality of soil, man and land within the multidimensional structure of nature is revealed in his poetry, so is the map of the uprooted people. The various perspectives regarding the similarity and contrast of life and nature, the analysis of the primitive spirit of myth or mythology, the characteristics of folk life and art, the correlation between falling in love, separating and loving again in human life are reflected in Rafiq's poetry. The life story of the common people who work on the banks of the rivers are elemental to his poetry. The life of the struggling people living close to the soil, their struggle against deprivation, their suffering, lamentations, and their resistance against injustice have been portrayed in his poetry. He is a skilled storyteller of the lives of the exploited, oppressed, persecuted, and destitute people of rural Bengal. In the light of class struggle, Mohammad Rafiq has made this conflicting struggle and the hunger to exist within these hardworking people an artistic triumph in his poetry. The multidimensional images of class struggle have been given a close focus in his poetry. The unveiling of the nature of lived experience on the banks of the river in the light of class struggle is the focus of this article.