“It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me

This paper demonstrates that Saba Imtiaz’s Karachi You Are Killing Me, re-conceptualizes the relationship between urban spaces and female bodies. The traditional urban theories define space as unchangeable physical reality that profoundly affects its inhabitants. Feminist urban theorists question th...

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Main Author: Khamsa Qasim
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies, University of Karachi 2022-09-01
Series:Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.socialsciencejournals.pjgs-ws.com/index.php/PJGS/article/view/627
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author Khamsa Qasim
author_facet Khamsa Qasim
author_sort Khamsa Qasim
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description This paper demonstrates that Saba Imtiaz’s Karachi You Are Killing Me, re-conceptualizes the relationship between urban spaces and female bodies. The traditional urban theories define space as unchangeable physical reality that profoundly affects its inhabitants. Feminist urban theorists question the traditional gendered perspective on both space and corporeality. Drawing on Elizabeth Grosz (1998) concept on bodies cities, I will investigate how woman as being both spectator and spectacle renegotiates her identity within the patriarchal urban spaces. This research argues that Grosz’s (1998) concept of Bodies-cities is an important intervention in our understanding of spatial politics in postcolonial spaces, as it discusses how female bodies play an important role in the formation of urban corporeality. Her seminal feminist work invents a new insight into the city-body nexus that also helps to address issues such as gender discrimination, inequalities, and urban violence.
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spelling doaj.art-981a008dcf634d8ebe66d51afdcafa122023-09-22T06:01:51ZengCentre of Excellence for Women’s Studies, University of KarachiPakistan Journal of Gender Studies2072-03942663-88862022-09-01222698810.46568/pjgs.v22i2.627596“It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing MeKhamsa Qasim0Department of English, International Islamic University, IslamabadThis paper demonstrates that Saba Imtiaz’s Karachi You Are Killing Me, re-conceptualizes the relationship between urban spaces and female bodies. The traditional urban theories define space as unchangeable physical reality that profoundly affects its inhabitants. Feminist urban theorists question the traditional gendered perspective on both space and corporeality. Drawing on Elizabeth Grosz (1998) concept on bodies cities, I will investigate how woman as being both spectator and spectacle renegotiates her identity within the patriarchal urban spaces. This research argues that Grosz’s (1998) concept of Bodies-cities is an important intervention in our understanding of spatial politics in postcolonial spaces, as it discusses how female bodies play an important role in the formation of urban corporeality. Her seminal feminist work invents a new insight into the city-body nexus that also helps to address issues such as gender discrimination, inequalities, and urban violence.https://www.socialsciencejournals.pjgs-ws.com/index.php/PJGS/article/view/627womenurban spaceidentitycorporeality
spellingShingle Khamsa Qasim
“It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
Pakistan Journal of Gender Studies
women
urban space
identity
corporeality
title “It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
title_full “It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
title_fullStr “It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
title_full_unstemmed “It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
title_short “It’s Karachi, Its, Where Life and Love Come to Die”: Representing Gender, Space and Identity in Karachi You are Killing Me
title_sort it s karachi its where life and love come to die representing gender space and identity in karachi you are killing me
topic women
urban space
identity
corporeality
url https://www.socialsciencejournals.pjgs-ws.com/index.php/PJGS/article/view/627
work_keys_str_mv AT khamsaqasim itskarachiitswherelifeandlovecometodierepresentinggenderspaceandidentityinkarachiyouarekillingme