Appliances of Power: The Role of Objects, Tools, and Domestic Technologies in Constructing Class Consciousness in In Other Rooms, Other Wonders

https://doi.org/10.55966/assaj.2025.4.1.055

Abstract

This paper examines both symbolic and functional meanings of material objects, domestic technologies, and tools in the short story collection In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin as a way of developing and strengthening class consciousness. The stories take place within the social-economic background of postcolonial Pakistan and all the characters involved have their identity and their stations in society defined by much more than wealth and land ownership, but by their ties to material goods. Using a Marxist literary approach and material culture religious studies, this study refers to the manner in which seemingly inanimate objects  e.g.  electric  gadgets,  furniture,  clothing,  and  domestic  infrastructure,  act  as  agile indicator of classes, permitting control and social stratification, as well as maintain it. Through analyzing the politics of power, which is inherent in their usage, access and placement of objects, the study unveils how the differences in classes are not only physically felt but are also sustained  ideologically.  Finally,  the  paper  suggests  that,  objects  in  the  narratives  of Mueenuddin are not mere statuses they are tools used invoicing the class, empowerment, and rebellion among the domestic and sociopolitical arenas of modern-day Pakistan.

Keywords: Class Consciousnessm, Domestic Technologies, Material Culture, Power Dynamics, Socioeconomic Stratification