INVESTIGATING CHARISMA THROUGH HISTORICAL FICTION: WORKING OF MANIPULATIVE CHARISMA IN THE THE BLACK COAT

Abstract

This article focuses on the play of political power through manipulative charisma in the novel The Black Coat by Neamat Imam. The author has tried to maintain that Sheikh Mujib has used his charismatic image to control people’s will by exaggerating the negligence of west pakistan towards the plight of Bengalis and through the propagation of half - truth about the economical condition of newly liberated Bangladesh. The article has made use of Tucker’s concept of charismatic leadership-which itself is indebted to Weber’s theory of Charisma- to study the importance of socio-political condition in the construction of charismatic image of the given leader. Wrong’s concept of manipulation has been used as a guiding principle to study the episode of Mujib’s life where charisma used manipulation for the sustenance of political power. The research has found out that in the selected novel Sheikh Mujib and his party first exploit people’s desire for a divine rescuer in the moment of stress and then use their blind belief to pursue the party's agenda.