Narratoligical aspects of narrator and his point of view in shirshendu mukhopadhyay's selected works for children's novel/ আখ্যান কথক ও তাঁর দৃষ্টিভঙ্গিতে শীর্ষেন্দু মুখোপাধ্যায়ের নির্বাচিত শিশু-কিশোর উপন্যাস

Abstract

Almost every children’s novel by Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay is diverse and uniquely flavored. At the same time, one also finds features of Narratology within them, which add a different dimension to the storyline. This makes his novels both adventurous and imaginative. Two of the key aspects of narratology are narrator and point of view. In Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s children’s novels, we can almost always notice these two aspects. Sometimes, who is speaking and who is seeing are presented together, and sometimes they are presented separately in the narrative. In most of his works, the omniscient narrative style can be seen—for example, Monojder Adbhut Bari (The Strange House of the Monoj Family), Hetamgarh-er Guptadhan (The Hidden Treasure of Hetamgarh), Paglasaheber Kobor (The Grave of Paglasaheb), Nabiganj-er Daitto (The Giant of Nabiganj), Haripur-er Harek Kando (The Many Incidents of Haripur), etc. Yet each of these novels carries a distinct originality in terms of story. The omniscient narrator sometimes observes very closely, while at other times maintaining a certain distance. Along with the omniscient narrator, in some novels we also find the presence of character-narrators. For instance, in Hirer Angti (The Diamond Ring), Kunjopukur-er Kando (The Incident of Kunjopukur), Dudhsayorer Dwip (The Island of Dudhsayor), etc. With the change of narrator, the mode of narration also changes, creating multiple narrative layers. Sometimes the character-narrators try to step beyond their limits and take on the role of omniscient narrator, though they ultimately fail to achieve that. Thus, on one hand, the omniscient narrator offers expansive observation, while on the other, the character-narrator’s limited point of view presents a contrasting experience to the reader. From a narratological perspective, this study emphasizes the narrator and his point of view. For convenience of discussion, three of Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s children’s novels have been chosen—Paglasaheber Kobor (The Grave of Paglasaheb), Nabiganj-er Daitto (The Giant of Nabiganj), and Dudhsayorer Dwip (The Island of Dudhsayor).