Special Issue on "Mapping Violence and Social Exclusion in Urban Space Narratives"

Guest Editors: Dr. Lois Jose, Dr. Tajamul Islam & Dr. Shamsudheen MK

Bio-note of Editors

Dr Lois Jose is currently working as an assistant professor at Akal University. She has been into teaching since 2018. She did her BA in English Language and Literature from Bishop Moore College and her MA from Pondicherry University. She was awarded doctorate for her research in Tibetan folktales and its contextual studies by Pondicherry University. Her research interests are in Folk Literature and cultural studies. However, she is also keen in reading the recent trends in literary research and delivered lectures. During her career she has presented papers and published them in national and international reputed journals. She is also guiding two scholars and has guided PG projects.

Dr. Tajamul Islam is working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of English Studies, Akal University. He has done his MPhil and PhD from MANUU, Hyderabad. His research interests include contemporary fiction, cultural studies, and social epistemology. He has teaching experience of 5 years and has taught courses for both UG and PG which includes comparative literature, literary theory and criticism, cultural studies and British literature. He has supervised PG dissertations and is currently co-supervising one PhD research scholar.

Dr. Shamsudheen MK is a highly accomplished academic with extensive experience in both teaching and research. Throughout his career, he has held positions at various universities and colleges across India, enriching diverse learning environments with his expertise. His academic journey culminated in a PhD from Aligarh Muslim University and PDF from Kerala University. Dr. MK's passion for scholarship is further evident in his active participation in conferences and his publications in prestigious journals. His work has graced the pages of Scopus-indexed and UGC-approved journals, showcasing his dedication to high-quality research. Currently, Dr. MK also acts as a reviewer for esteemed journals, lending his expertise to the evaluation of scholarly work.

 Mapping Violence and Social Exclusion in Urban Narratives: An Introduction

Urban Space is always seen as an abode of hope, promises, vibrancy of life and opportunities. It proclaims a space with civic sense and rational order, diversity and multiculturalism. Urban space in popular imagination is no less than a utopia. Towering buildings, roads, metros and ever-moving resplendent cities -the ‘iconic and verbal images’ of urban experience produced through various media project social and cultural inclusiveness as its innate nature, attracting people from different spheres of society to the cities. However, the recent studies on city structures validates that this spectacle of a city belies the embedded violence and exclusion in the structuring and functioning of the city itself. The city space, therefore is not any scientific object but a social construction, much more ideological, strategic and political and can be reshaped by giving citizens the right to rethink them (Lefebvre 1991; 2003). The studies on these spaces in the past few years took a cultural approach and Urban Studies as a discipline has developed from the reading of city spaces from an architectural point of view to the understanding of social interactions men have with their physical environment, Foucault (1984), Bachelard (1994), Soja (1996). Massey (1994), on the other hand, developed a gendered perspective on urban environments that explores the intricate relationship between space and social relations, emphasizing how places are constructed through social interactions. It was David Harvey (2012) who made a critical re-evaluation of urban space, particularly its intersections with urbanization, capitalism, and social justice and underscored the multifaceted nature of urban spaces. These discourses highlighted the importance of addressing both socio-economic and gendered dimensions in the pursuit of social justice within urban contexts. The discussions around the exclusionary nature of the cities have recently also been amplified by the influx of migrants in modern metropolis, Shah (2020), Walia (2021). 

Rapid urbanization, urban expansion and gentrification focusing on the formation of megacities generates the marginal population. Urban marginalization, in fact, makes the cities fragile, limiting the capacities of city dwellers in margin. Modern urban spaces are inherently exclusionary, designed primarily for able-bodied individuals from specific socioeconomic classes, while also marginalizing various animal species. A prevalent example can be observed in India, where the sight of cows, buffaloes, and other domestic and non-domestic animals occupying the roads serves as a stark reminder of how city spaces, shaped by capitalist interests, leave little room for these animals to graze or thrive. Significant contributions in this direction calling for a more-than-non-human urban space have come from Jaffe (2021), Haque (2021), Biehler (2021), and Nattrass and Woodgate (2021). These works highlight the need to extend analyses of urbanization to include non-human histories and experiences and their agencies, emphasizing the importance of understanding the relationships between humans, animals, and the built environment in cities.

The narratives of urban spaces portray the constant negotiation with different ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups, histories, memories and identities. They recount narratives of subjugation, exclusion and surveillance. Therefore, the cityscapes portrayed in the literary narratives cannot be merely considered as a backdrop to the text, but are to be mapped and excavated multiple times as sites of violence, constant struggle and tireless resistance. Art, aesthetics and politics of cityscapes, violent and artistic protests that filled the urban streets, inclusive and exclusive nature of its inhabitants, challenges and opportunities are represented, created and recreated in the various genres of literature. The urban spatial markers and locations represented and reconstituted in literary narratives are always in the academic discourses and critical theories for example Bakhtin (1981), Barthes (1988).  Interdisciplinary approaches to study the dynamics of urban space can be found in much recent literary scholarship of Bryden (2009), Bachelard (1994), Alves, Daniel, and Ana Isabel Queiroz (2013), and Bhattacharjee and Karmakar (2023) covering different contexts.

The narratives of urban spaces in varying contexts can be traced back to the myths, legends, and epic stories across different civilizations and cultures. From the Western classical context, (Iliad and Odyssey) to Eastern (Mahabharata) and to a plethora of literary works that exist across the world. Notable examples include Dubliners by James Joyce, The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot, City of Glass by Paul Auster, Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino, Underworld by Don DeLillo, Howl by Allen Ginsberg, The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges, Garden Party and Other Stories by Katherine Mansfield, Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Istanbul: Memories and the City by Orhan Pamuk, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie, The Cairo Trilogy by Naguib Mahfouz, Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. These works are part of a vast reservoir of literary texts that explore urban spaces—how they are constructed, perceived, shaped, and how they interact with characters. The depth of their visualization and representation of the city transforms it from merely a backdrop into a character in its own right, providing a rich treasure trove for literary researchers to delve into the complexities and richness of the world. These texts facilitate an exploration of urban identities across cultures, examining how environments influence character perceptions, their visual semiotics, and how urban settings shape narrative landscapes. This offers fresh insights into the interplay between literature and the city, as well as their socio-political dynamics.

 The current issue aims to present diverse interpretations of urban spaces, focusing on the phenomena of social exclusion and violence within cities. Its goal is to enhance understanding and contribute to mitigating these issues to foster social cohesion and inclusivity. This issue features a wide range of papers that critically examine these pressing concerns.

The papers in this issue delve into a diverse array of topics related to urban space, offering rich insights into the complexities of modern city life. They explore psychogeography, examining how emotional and psychological responses to urban environments shape individual experiences. The cinematic representation of violence is scrutinized, revealing how film reflects and influences perceptions of urban violence and conflict. Additionally, the issue addresses socio-economic disparities that persist within city landscapes, highlighting the stark contrasts between wealth and poverty. The impact of pandemics and plagues on urban communities is also a focal point highlighting how crises reshape social dynamics and public spaces. Narratives centered on children provide a unique perspective on urban life during Indian partition, while the discussions on early medieval English literature widens the scope for the field of urban narratives to explore the narrative of violence in urban spatial discourse.

It further highlights the most vulnerable segments of marginalized populations, including children, individuals with disabilities, those affected by the pandemic, the blind, and various subcultures. It serves as a cautionary exploration of the horrors that urban spaces can impose, illustrating how these environments can contribute to a dystopian reality for human existence. By examining the intersection of literature and the city, this issue underscores how the narratives of urban spaces reflect and amplify the challenges faced by these marginalized groups, further enriching our understanding of social exclusion and the complexities of urban life.

 Works Cited:

Alves, Daniel, and Ana Isabel Queiroz. “Studying Urban Space and Literary Representations Using GIS: Lisbon, Portugal, 1852-2009.” Social Science History, vol. 37, no. 4, 2013, pp. 457–481. doi:10.1017/S0145553200011937.

Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Translated by Maria Jolas, Beacon Press, 1994.

Bakhtin, Mikhail Mikhailovich. “Forms of Time and of the Chronotope in the Novel: Notes toward a Historical Poetics.” In The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays, edited by Michael Holquist, translated by Caryl Emerson, University of Texas Press, 1981, pp. 84–85.

Barthes, Roland. “Semiology and Urbanism.” In The Semiotic Challenge, translated by Richard Howard, Basil Blackwell, 1988, pp. 191-201

Biehler, Dawn Day. “Urban Animals: Bison on Display, and the Grand Temporal and Geographic Scales of Urbanization.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 45, no. 5, 2021, pp. 826-833.

Bryden, Inga. “Crossing the Street: Literature and Urban Space.” Working With English: Medieval and Modern Language, Literature and Drama, vol. 5, no. 1, 2009, pp. 21-32. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/documents/working-with-english/volume-5/bryden-crossing-the-street-literature-and-urban-space.pdf.

Foucault, Michel. “Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias.” Architecture, Mouvement, Continuité, no. 5, 1984, pp. 46-49.

Haque, Aseela. “On More-than-human Public Space: Kabootar Chowk in Karachi.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 45, no. 5, 2021, pp. 818-825.

Jaffe, Rivke. “Introduction: Animals and the City.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 45, no. 5, 2021, pp. 811-817.

Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Translated by Donald Nicholson-Smith, Blackwell, 1991.

Nattrass, Nicoli, and Zoë Woodgate. “Cats, Commensal Rodents and Cosmopolitics in Cape Town.” International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, vol. 45, no. 5, 2021, pp. 850-857.

Shah, Sonia. The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020.

Soja, Edward W. Thirdspace: Journeys to Los Angeles and Other Real-and-Imagined Places. Blackwell, 1996.

Walia, Harsha. Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism. Haymarket Books, 2021.