The construction of a mythological perspective in selected stories by Rajsekhar Bose/ রাজশেখর বসুর নির্বাচিত গল্পে পৌরাণিক দৃষ্টিভঙ্গির বিনির্মাণ

Abstract

The influence of mythology or the emergence of new mythology in modern Bengali literature is noteworthy issue. Mythology is the root of today’s literary tree, without which the foundation of literature cannot be imagined. We observe the influence of our mythology in various works of poets and writers from the middle-ages to modern era. The work of re-creating Puranas in Bengali literature began with the help of the famous writer Madhusudan Dutta, and one of the prominent writers on that path was Rajsekhar Bose. He is known as Puranic character named ‘Parshuram’. Since his father Candrasekhar Bose was great scholar, it is natural that Puranic stories are widely used in his works. Although 18 Puranas and many Uppuranas exist as cultural heritage, in the modern era we find the historical sources of these Puranas from our oldest epics, the ‘Ramayana’ and the ‘Mahabharata’. Therefore, the writers of Bengali literature have achieved immense prosperity by rewriting, reviving and rearranging these mythological stories. In the modern era, the concept of mythology has changed. Short stories are one of the genres of modern literature. In today’s busy life, people want to satisfy their taste for mythology through short stories. As a result, some writers like Rajsekhar have done this very skillfully and have reconstructed the mythology in new way by adding their own talent. His stories generally emphasize humor and satire, but his extensive use of mythology as a means of achieving that satire is truly unparalleled. Through some of his stories, themes or characters of mythology are combined with Kalpapurana and transformed into new forms, giving the stories a new dimension. I will try to show that the stories have gained a new perspective and reconstruction he has portrayed on the mythological subjects or characters.