Living space

• Who wrote 'Living space'?

  Imtiaz Dharker
• When was 'Living space' published?

  1997
• The poem describes a ramshackle living space, with its lack of 'straight lines' and beams 'balanced crookedly on supports'
• Imtiaz Dharker has explained that the poem describes the slums of Mumbai, where people migrate from all over India in the hope of a better life
• The slum areas are living spaces created out of all kinds of found materials: corrugated sheets, wooden beams and tarpaulin
• In this poem, she celebrates the existence of these living spaces as a miracle
• Born in Pakistan but raised in Scotland, Imtiaz Dharker has an interest in representing a different culture
• Structure of the poem

  • The poem Living Space begins with Dharker being sarcastic towards the negative views of the slums
  • The middle stanza represents the small 'Living Space' the people have to use as the stanza is 'squeezed' into the middle of the poem
  • The poem ends with Dharker's admiration of the people who live in the slums and their positive attitudes towards their negative circumstances
• The poem describes a ramshackle living space, with its lack of 'straight lines' and beams 'balanced crookedly on supports'
• Imtiaz Dharker has explained that the poem describes the slums of Mumbai, where people migrate from all over India in the hope of a better life
• The slum areas are living spaces created out of all kinds of found materials: corrugated sheets, wooden beams and tarpaulin
• In this poem, she celebrates the existence of these living spaces as a miracle
• Born in Pakistan but raised in Scotland, Imtiaz Dharker has an interest in representing a different culture
• Structure of the poem

  • The poem Living Space begins with Dharker being sarcastic towards the negative views of the slums
  • The middle stanza represents the small 'Living Space' the people have to use as the stanza is 'squeezed' into the middle of the poem
  • The poem ends with Dharker's admiration of the people who live in the slums and their positive attitudes towards their negative circumstances