সায়ন্তনী পূততুন্ডের নির্বাচিত ছোটগল্পে একুশ শতকের কোভিড-নাইন্টিন এর ভয়াবহ বাস্তবতা ও মনস্তাত্ত্বিক টানাপোড়েন/ The Horrifying Reality of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Psychological Tension in Selected Short Stories of Sayantani Putatunda in the Twenty-First

Abstract

The literature of the first two decades of the twenty-first century reflects various global events-particularly the rapid expansion of information technology and the devastating impact of the COVID or coronavirus disease on human life. Due to advancements in technology, human lifestyles have been undergoing continuous transformation through online platforms and various social media. Above all, the outbreak of the COVID pandemic in 2019 created a special thematic space in world as well as Bengali literature. Natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and pandemics have, across different eras, affected human society and literature in the same way as world wars and other global crises. Similarly, in the post-pandemic world of the twenty-first century, the reality of catastrophe has been strongly reflected in literature. In the second decade of the twenty-first century, Bengali short stories vividly capture the psychological stress, emotional sensitivity, and uncertainty caused by COVID-19. The crises that contemporary human life faced-fear, anxiety, loneliness, and alienation-have found powerful expression in the realistic and psychological portrayals of many writers’ short stories. During the pandemic, COVID-19 emerged as an invisible and unpredictable enemy in human life. Issues such as strained personal relationships, insecurity in civic life, loss of livelihood, and images of hunger and deprivation became prominent themes in short stories of this period. Anyone infected with COVID-19-or even suspected of being infected-became a cause of fear and mental trauma. Therefore, it can be said that psychological anxiety occupies a central place in the short stories of this period. Loneliness, fear, frustration, and traumatic memories shattered the freedom of people across both rural and urban settings.

The trend of Bengali literature during this phase can be identified as an important documentary testimony of the time. How fear affected people of every social class during lockdowns is vividly portrayed in the short stories of this period. Themes such as animal life, survival struggles, fear of death, hunger, migrant laborers, and displaced people recur frequently. Alongside these, the harsh realities of the contemporary healthcare system, doctors, and administration have been realistically depicted in various stories. Among the short story writers of this special phase, the name of Sayantani Putatunda deserves particular mention. The diverse conflicts, crises, and psychological pressures of contemporary human life during the COVID pandemic are clearly reflected in her short stories. Sayantani Putatunda’s stories from Story collection ‘AAR JAANEY SHEI MEYE’ (2022) such as ‘VITU MANUSH’, ‘BYATHA’ and ‘SOCIAL DISTANCING’, among others, are deeply rooted in the COVID situation.