"Porous Bodies in Mumbai: An Analysis of the Urban Landscape in Rohinton Mistry's Novels"

  1. María-Luz González-Rodríguez 1
  1. 1 Universidad de La Laguna
    info

    Universidad de La Laguna

    San Cristobal de La Laguna, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01r9z8p25

Revista:
Ex-centric Narratives: Journal of Anglophone Literature, Culture and Media

ISSN: ISSN: 2585-3538

Año de publicación: 2018

Páginas: 190-202

Tipo: Artículo

GOOGLE SCHOLAR

Resumen

Rohinton Mistry’s work mainly focuses on the life of the marginalized and their struggle to survive againsthuman ambition and political corruption, and Mumbai is frequently the meeting point of many of his characters. Inthis paper, I analyze the writer’s conception of the urban landscape from an ecocritical perspective, applyingmaterial ecocriticism’s theories and exploring the city as a porous body. Cities are compounds of matter and energyin mutual transformation with human and non-human beings, living and non-living matter (Alaimo 2008, Tuana2008, Iovino 2014). Through the application of the concept of porosity, I show how Mistry’s characters are directlyaffected by what happens in the city. The city, on the other side, is also deeply transformed by human ambition, thetyranny of those in power, and the dirtiness and chaos resulting from social abuse.

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