Across Forbidden Terrains: Spatial Transgression and Empowerment in The Pearl That Broke Its Shell and The Shadow of the Crescent Moon

Abstract

The present study discusses the socio-spatial marginalization of Pashtun women in Nadia Hashimi's The Pearl that Broke Its Shell and Bhutto's The Shadow of the Crescent Moon. The discussion focuses on identifying Pashtun women’s positionality in Pashtun normative geography. The present study employs Tim Cresswell’s theorization of spatial marginalization, normative geography, and spatial transgression. The study finds that there is a binary division of public and private space, which leads to the spatial marginalization of Pashtun women. In Pashtun normative geographies, women are spatially marginalized because the geographies are shaped by socio-spatial standards. The paper concludes that the female characters are constantly engaged in spatial transgression within the Pashtun patriarchal normative geography.

Keywords: Transgression, Pashtun Women's Spatiality, Women's Empowerment, Spatial Marginalization