Re-narrating History of Gauripur: A Study of Madhupur and “Madhupur Bahudoor”

Abstract

This paper attempts to make a new historical reading of Sheelabhadra’s fiction Madhupur and the story “Madhupur Bahudoor”. Sheelabhadra appeared in the Assamese literary scene as a novelist with the publication of Madhupur in 1971. With his knowledge of the novel—both traditional and modern —Sheelabhadra enriched the Assamese fiction by writing novels somewhat different in form and style. He has focused on the life and manners of the common men and women of Gauripur which is more well known for her Zaminders. The pulsating life of the contemporary men of Gauripur becomes alive in his stories. The critical method of the essay is influenced by the concepts and ideas of such exponents of New Historicism as Hayden White. Madhupur in his stories is the semifictional representation of his native place Gauripur—the Gauripur with her Zamindar, men and manners in the late 1930s and 1940s. He presents an alternative history of Gauripur and helps us revisit it as a story teller.