Karachi is the most prominent urban and metropolitan city in Pakistan and it is filled with terror ridden narratives. This study focuses on violence due to dominant criminal forces and lawlessness produced by both uniformed forces and non-state actors. In Pakistan’s context, this seminal study uncovers the literary representation of the selected city in the crime fiction by Omar Shahid. This aspect has been ignored by critics and researchers. Furthermore, this research work will extensively explores the inner ‘secretive’ yet vibrant dark life of this mega city through the application of Foucauldian’s“Discipline and Punish”. It asserts that, in the city there are criminal underworld forces which has turned the life of the inhabitants of Karachi into a prisoned world. No matter what is the status they hold. They are just in the state of prison by the hands of the underworld powerful entities of the city.
Speaking at length, it investigates the concept of prison a Foucauldian’s framework for the analysis of the modern criminally captured society. Thus, the study comprises close, compact reading and content analysis of the text. Then the further analysis of the novel in regard to Foucauldian “Birth of Prison” and contextual study of the Karachi, both are the things to present the background for the study. It will bridge the gap between the world of fiction and reality at the same time. This study is a Descriptive and analytical research collecting the data from the contemporary society of Karachi.
It is pertinent to note that the study indicates the meaning of the word prison in social context rather than an actual state of being prisoned. By the help of conceptual frame researcher analyses and elaborates his notion of the imprisonment of the Karachi that how a city turned into a literal word ‘prison’ to a practical word prison, entitled “Representation Of The City As a Prison: A Foucauldian Study Of “The Prisoner”, a fictional work by Omar Shahid Hamid based upon the Foucault’s theory which deals with subject of society and its institutions:
Which produces power, so the paradigm of this study totally depends upon the of the word ‘prison’ as it defines in the words that the prison is a name of the wide spreading network of institutions like: school, military, hospital factories, which build a panoptic society for its members. (Web britannica,16).
While examining the construction of the prison, it has been described as a central means of criminal punishment, then Foucault further explains rather rename it that it’s a part of a large “carceral system” which has been turned into an all-encompassing sovereign institution in modern society. This research shows multidimensional shades of the prison, in which while reading the text we feel our narrative is wandering around. Throughout the reading of the text a reader feels that he himself is in the state of constant watch of some forces called intelligence forces, bound in the hands of criminal politicians and double face police officers as well. But the most important thing which is the basic point of my debate is there is resistance against the power relations and disciplinary power of the forces which is an omnipresent power to take a critical view of the evil surrounding the city. It will prevent the whole city from the evil intentions. As Sara Mills argues, that the use of
Disciplinary power is prevailing everywhere in society”. It is not only in prisons or in like that institutions rather it (surveillance) is used to control the behavior of the people in general ; and it is not only criminals who are subjected to disciplinary power but all are subjected to this power the whole society (34).
This is a purely qualitative study and builds up the arguments on the descriptiveaOf the analytical and exploratory views. Basically qualitative research aims at picking up an in depth analysis of the content. It mixed up the theoretical and textual quotes into one text for making it a whole. Thus this research deals with the questions like why and how. The uses to observe and drive out the basic themes of the theory and especially the specific part of the theory have been selected for this thesis. Usually, it takes under study the social documents the ultimate of this study is to understand social issues, human behavior and the reasons that govern such behavior. It is designed to meet the objectives of the study and to obtain findings. This thesis fulfills the same requirement as it has to identify that how Foucauldian concepts like; Discipline, Panoptic-ism and Surveillance, Resistance to Power and the limits of power and institutions. demonstrates the facts that of Karachi these can be proved the more functional devices to make social and political criticism, Ultimately, the researcher has also gone through previous researches related to the area and subject as well. Such as Jan Albert 2007, Narrating the role of prison a 20the century film and fictional analytical study: An analytical study of the ‘prison’ in general and particular as well. Some articles, have also been observed, like Owen Bennett Jones (January, 2014) presenting the review in fact summarizing the novel by talking about the evils spreading around in the city in the form of corrupt police officers and describing the tussles of the different religious groups moving in the city. It makes more significant and remarkable my study to place it in a broad horizon of literature to come up with a sound analysis and logical conclusion.
In final words, this research shows that Karachi is a city which is in state of prison in regards of society and morality elements involved in making it like that are countering terrorism, the violent terrorists attacks, jihadis networks, corrupt police officers and bloodthirsty political henchmen. It provides the in sight of the city as well as horrible view of the Karachi. This study mainly puts its focus upon the socio political condition of Karachi, on the account of its background and present scenario of the city has been discussed as well.
Works Cited
Alber, Jan. Narrating the Prison: Role and Representation in Charles Dickens' Novels, Twentieth-Century Fiction, and Film. Cambria Press, 2007.
Mills, Sara. "Power/knowledge." Michel Foucault (2003): 67-79.
-https://www.britannica.com/place/Karachi#toc61942(2017) https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/19283880-the-prisoner (2017)