Détails de l’article

Titre : Urban transformation and gentrification in America in upton inclair’s the jungle and Zadie Smith’s white teeth

Auteur.e.s : Didier KOMBIENI, .

Résumé : This paper examines social inequality, urbanization, and displacement in The Jungle and White Teeth through a comparative literary lens. It explores how these novels reveal the human experiences behind structural inequalities that continue to shape urban life. Focusing on their urban settings, the study traces patterns of displacement, class struggle, and cultural conflict, using Marxist theory to analyze economic exploitation and class relations, and Postcolonial theory to address racialized and cultural marginalization. The paper argues that both texts depict urban transformation not merely as physical or economic change, but as a process that dislocates vulnerable populations and normalizes inequality. Literature provides insight into the consequences of policy-driven development, showing how economic growth, labor precarity, and cultural fragmentation are experienced at individual and community levels. Sinclair and Smith expose the ideological forces justifying displacement while highlighting resistance and adaptation among marginalized groups. By linking literary analysis to urban policy debates, this study demonstrates how narratives of gentrification and modernization can inform socially responsive approaches to urban development, emphasizing the need to address structural inequities rather than reproduce them. Keywords: Gentrification, urbanization, social inequality, urban expansion, displacement

Numéro 2