DISPLACEMENT AND THE URBAN SPACE IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION

Abstract

This paper examines displacement and urban space in Lisa Braxton’s The Talking
Drum and Tommy Orange’s There There to illustrate how the urban space evolves
through a process of displacement. This evolution is expressed with terms like urban
development, gentrification, urban renewal, etc. Using the poetics of geocriticism,
the study proceeds on the assumption that urban spaces are at once social, cultural,
physical, and discursive. It also investigates how urban spaces function as sites of
spatial tension, aesthetic representation, and displacement in contemporary literature.
The multifocal, stratigraphic, and polysensorial approaches of Geocriticism allow for
an interdisciplinary exploration of space and the relationship between identity,
belonging, and marginality. The paper argues that urban spaces in the selected texts
embody contradictions that simultaneously offer opportunities for growth and
conditions for exclusion. Thus, displacement, whether physical, psychological, or
socio-cultural, is revealed as an outcome of urban evolution and is often driven by
capitalist, political, and social forces. Characters in the texts experience dislocation
due to gentrification, immigration policies, and identity crises. These suggest that the
urban space is not inherently inclusive. Rather, it is contested, dynamic, and
oppressive. The study highlights how each narrative uses multifocalisation and
spatial metaphors to interrogate issues of privilege, access, and power. Urban spaces
such as Oakland and Petit Africa emerge as spaces where identity is continuously
negotiated and subverted. The urban condition, as depicted in the texts, aligns with
postmodern concerns of fragmentation, heterogeneity, and existential ambiguity.
Ultimately, the paper concludes that the urban space is both a product and a producer
of social relations, and that displacement within it reflects the broader struggles over
space, belonging, and survival. The study thus contributes to spatial literary criticism
by demonstrating how literature participates in the ethical and aesthetic production
of space, illuminating the lived realities of those navigating complex urban
geographies.