BEYOND THE CANON: INTERSECTIONAL APPROACHES TO KAMILA SHAMSIE’S KARTOGRAPHY

Abstract

In Kartography (2002), Kamila Shamsie juxtaposes personal memory and intimacy with the urban landscape of Karachi, a city marked by ethnic violence, class divisions, and the intermingling of love and loss. This paper investigates how Shamsie mobilizes these social ruptures through an intersectional framework that synthesizes Postcolonial and Feminist Criticism. Central questions include: what forms of identity and belonging emerge within a city defined by political conflict; why the overlapping structures of gender, ethnicity, and class demand critical attention; and how the theoretical interventions of Kimberlé Crenshaw, Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak, Judith Butler, and bell hooks illuminate issues of urban subjectivity. The analysis demonstrates that Kartography destabilizes singular interpretations of postcolonial identity by foregrounding feminine subjectivity, interrogating collective memory, and examining the precarious relationship between love and friendship. Ultimately, the study argues that Shamsie’s novel expands the literary canon by illustrating how intersectional methodologies enrich our understanding of both the text and its socio-political context.