Literary Representation of Social Death: Perspective of a poem written by Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah and W. H. Auden.

Abstract

This paper explores the literary representation of social death through the poetic works of Rudra Mohammad Shahidullah and W. H. Auden. Literature has a long history of reflecting social consciousness and a medium for expressing the evolving conditions of human identity. In the modern era—marked by materialism, individualism, and existential anxiety—both poets reflect a profound crisis of social existence. Through a close, qualitative analysis supported by critical reviews, scholarly articles, newspapers, and books, this study examines how abstract ideas such as success, identity, alienation, and modern values are encoded in their poetry. The paper traces the progression from the image of the modern self to themes of psychological estrangement, voluntary exile, and systemic marginalization. These recurring motifs collectively point to the sociological phenomenon of social death— a condition where individuals, though biologically alive, are rendered socially invisible or irrelevant. While “social death” originates as a sociological construct, this paper argues that Shahidullah and Auden articulate its essence metaphorically, revealing the disintegration of human connection in modern society. Their poetic representations serve not only as artistic expressions but as cultural critiques of dehumanization in contemporary life.