Gendered urban imaginations: literary representations of Lahore and Heera Mandi

Abstract

Lahore is culturally and architecturally one of the wealthiest cities in the South Asian sub-continent. It has seen its days of glory and days of obscurity. From Mughal Emperors to the colonialization of the British to the nationalism of Pakistani leaders, it has witnessed drastic changes in its cultures, architecture, and urban spaces. These changes were due to either religious, political, or social reasons. This thesis deals with two significant eras in Lahore's history that shaped the cultural identity of the city; Colonial Lahore (1858-1947) and post-colonial Lahore (1970-present). The thesis explores how the urban sphere of Lahore was imagined by different genders in the colonial and post-colonial periods. It scrutinizes the literature, memoirs, and archives of the people experiencing the city at their respective ages. It explores how these experiences varied for gender and whether it was equally an ideal space by respective genders. It also discusses the effects of one of the biggest red-light districts in the sub-continent, Heera Mandi (Diamond Market), on the city's urban space and religious culture before and after the independence from the British. Furthermore, the thesis investigates the interaction between power, patriarchy, and urban development in Lahore's postcolonial modernization attempts. Authors such as Bapsi Sidhwa, Sara Suleri, Louise Brown and Mohsin Hamid's postcolonial fiction give unique insights into minority worries, women and Khawajasira’s struggles, and the clash between tradition and modernity as impacted by political events and cultural transformations. The study improves our knowledge of Lahore's gender dynamics and their consequences for urban development by analyzing these representations.