Configuration of Transient Shelters as Alternative Spaces through Nomadic Acts in Doris Lessing’s “An Old Woman and Her Cat”

Özet

Doris Lessing’s short story “An Old Woman and Her Cat” from her collection, TheTemptation of Jack Orkney, revolves around the nomadic experiences of an old andhomeless woman in various places and her survival under poor living circumstanceswith her cat. The places occupied by the old woman in this story such as theCouncil flats, the room in the slum and the ruined flat in a wealthy neighbourhoodcannot be considered as proper homes where people have a sense of belonging;rather, they are just material places she tries to appropriate as shelters temporarilyon the way without a feeling of warmth and attachment to them. Focusing on thewoman and the cat’s relationship with their surrounding provides a discussion onspace and nomadism within the framework of Henri Lefebvre’s spatial tripartite- the perceived, the conceived and the lived - which is related to Rosi Braidotti’stheory on nomadism. It also reveals the social norms and values, which disregardan old woman and her cat’s struggle for life in a metropolis. Therefore, this article aims to discuss not only the material qualities of transient places in London andtheir conceived perspective which segregates the poor and the homeless from thewealthy but also the old woman’s configuration of alternative spaces for herself outof the ruins without a sense of home.