The spatial politics of the centre: architectural and cartographic signifiers of Delhi’s centrality in Sarnath Banerjee’s Corridor

Delhi has been imagined in every possible literary style, yet it continues to inspire new stories. Apart from narratives that glorify the rich heritage of the city, literature centred on Delhi can be broadly classified into three categories: narratives that 1) focus on social and political justice and structural inequalities, 2) historicise the city, and 3) expose the politics and problems of postmodern life. While a large body of scholarship exists on the aforementioned themes, there is a notable lack of studies that focus on the geography and spatiality of the city. Authored by Sarnath Banerjee, Corridor ;(2004) is one of the most acclaimed Indian graphic novels, which is studied at length for its portrayal of contemporary urban life in its absurd and fragmented state. The paper argues that Banerjee highlights the geographical, political, and social centrality of Delhi, emphasising its geographical and symbolic significance in shaping power dynamics and urban identities through the skilful manipulation of architecture and cartographic signifiers. It adopts a geocritical perspective to analyse Corridor; Gaston Bachelard’s Phenomenology of Roundness and conventions of literary cartography are employed to interpret the deployment of architectural and cartographic signifiers, respectively.