Tracing the Margins: An Eco-spatial Study of Khan’s Thinner Than Skin

Abstract

This research deals with Uzma Aslam Khan’s novel Thinner Than Skin (2012) to explore social segregation and ecological imbalance in the Northern areas of Pakistan because of an unstable spatial production and spatial injustice. Northern areas of Pakistan, though abundant in beauty and natural resources, are being destroyed in the wake of growing consumerism, urbanization, technology, global commerce, politics of war and capitalism. This research takes into consideration Henri Lefebvre’s idea of “Production of Space” and ecocritical concerns of Lawrence Buell within the context of space and its socio-environmental connotations. City spaces, planned according to the interests of the city capitals and planners, not only define the physical space but also the environmental and socio-political strata of society along with the identities and practices of its inhabitants. The conflicted and segregating spatial production creates ‘spatial others’ and ‘urban outcasts’ some of whom search for spatial and environmental justice.