Foucauldian Biopower in Márquez’s “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World": A Critical Discourse Analysis

Abstract

The present study examines how the tapestry of power dynamics is transformed through discursive change. To conduct the research, Fairclough’s critical discourse Analysis framework is applied under Micheal Foucault’s concept of Biopower. Therefore, Gabriel García Márquez’s masterpiece “The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World” is selected to examine power dynamics embedded in the social practices, interactions and relationships. The study intends to unravel the threads of human intricacies in social hierarchy and how handsomest corpse inspired transformative resistance against societal constraints and sparked their collective imagination. It also investigates that how Esteban, a deadly figure, becomes catalyst and disrupts the existing normative discourse that entrenches in villager’s social interactions and practices. The present study is exclusive in a way that it encapsulates power dynamics of the body process, resistance and the visibility of power shift. The research highlights the embedded collective imagination for better life style among women who start thinking beyond their limited space and circumstances.