From Marginality to Agency: Reimagining the ‘New Woman’ in Select Post-Partition Bengali Cinematic Narratives.

Abstract

Conventional patriarchal historiography of the Bengal Partition Narrative frequently places women at the periphery, representing them largely through domestic identities such as mothers, daughters, and sisters. Within such frameworks, women often appear as marginal figures or passive sufferers, while those who demonstrate independence are portrayed as deviant or disruptive. This paper challenges the limitations of the elite, male-dominated Bhadrolok discourse that foregrounds female victimhood by exploring the experiences of East Bengali refugee women following the Partition of India in 1947. While the Partition of Bengal caused immense dislocation, including the loss of homeland, identity, and community, it also produced conditions that enabled a redefinition of feminine subjectivity. The study examines how refugee women confronted displacement and social hostility to renegotiate their identities and actively contribute to the socio-cultural transformation of West Bengal, thereby reshaping the ideals associated with the womanhood. Through a critical analysis of female protagonists in the films Meghe Dhaka Tara, Rajkahini, and Goynar Baksho, the paper contends that these cinematic narratives foreground the emergence of a “New Woman.”