Correlation between Displacement and Dehumanization in Contemporary Bangladeshi Short Stories from Our Many Longings

Abstract

In an increasingly globalised socio-political and economic system, large populations are often displaced due to political, economic or environmental reasons. Most of the displaced individuals face severe human rights violations, resulting in a process of dehumanization. Many refugees and migrants are forced to cope with challenges like hunger, slavery, physical torture, sexual violence, genocide, random detention, and human trafficking, leaving them powerless. Such circumstances often take away the dignity of a human being, putting the displaced in a process of dehumanization. Our Many Longings: Contemporary Short Fiction from Bangladesh (2022), edited by Sohana Manzoor, is a collection of short stories that depicts the enigma of displaced people. Through a close examination of the stories of Our Many Longings, this paper investigates how the displaced people gradually lose their identity, leading to dehumanization, which is the denial of all the positive human qualities of an individual. The paper also explores Philip Zimbardo’s The Lucifer Effect to analyze whether dehumanization necessarily transforms an individual into an evil being.