Counter Home: Unravelling the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Hijra Dwellings of Khulna, Bangladesh

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4060

Keywords:

third gender identity, hijra, urban home-making, queer tropics, tropical architecture, Khulna Bangladesh, counter home

Abstract

Amidst limited social acceptance and scant governmental and non-governmental support for third gender communities in Bangladesh, this paper explores the intricate relationship between the conception of hijra and its profound impact on redefining the notion of home. In the queer tropics, hijra communities form a unique identity within South Asia’s urban fabric. Employing ethnographic methods and spatial analysis, this multidisciplinary study investigates the hijra home-making process in Khulna, Bangladesh, shedding light on their lived experiences. It unravels the complex interplay of tropical architecture leading to their transformation into, and stigmatisation as, hijras, investigating the spatial implications of their stigma in the organisation of household spaces based on hijra notions of publicness-privateness, spatial sequencing/order, layering, and hierarchy. The formal articulation of homes and their integration into the larger urban scale signifies a distinctive counter-spatial culture within this marginalised community, which acts to counter prevailing ideas of stability, ownership, and family within the concept of home. This counter-culture, as the paper unveils, makes the hijra home dynamics a process of socio-spatial transaction where gender identities manifest and are subverted/shaped by the domestic space. The findings of the paper enrich our understanding of the diverse spatial ways social discriminations are interwoven into the ordinary fabric of contemporary urban living in the tropical city of Khulna.

Author Biographies

Apurba K. Podder, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Bangladesh

Apurba K. Podder teaches History and Theory at the Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET). He completed his PhD in Architecture from the University of Cambridge, UK, and served as an Affiliated Scholar at the Centre of South Asian Studies, University of Cambridge. His research interests and publications focus on climate change, spatial resilience, forced displacement and informal urbanism in coastal cities. He is currently the coordinator of the Resilience and Emergency Architecture Cell at BUET.

Fadia Binte Shahidullah, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET), Bangladesh

Fadia Binte Shahidullah is pursuing her post-graduate degree (MS. Arch) at the Department of Architecture, Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET). Along with her studies, she is working as a Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant in the same department. Following her research interests, she was affiliated with architectural research projects funded by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, Government of Bangladesh. She completed her Bachelor's degree (B. Arch) from Khulna University, Bangladesh. Her research interests include resilient settlement design and gender-responsive architecture.

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2024-10-15

How to Cite

Podder, A. K., & Shahidullah, F. B. (2024). Counter Home: Unravelling the Socio-Spatial Dynamics of Hijra Dwellings of Khulna, Bangladesh. ETropic: Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics, 23(2), 235–269. https://doi.org/10.25120/etropic.23.2.2024.4060