Gayatri spivak concert of subaltern theory
Name : urvashi chauhan
Roll no.: 31
Sem : m.a sem 2
Topic : concept of subaltern
Paper : 8 cultural studie
Enrollment no :2069108420190008
Email Id : urvashichahan157@gmail.com
Submitted to : Smt. S.b Gardi Department of English MKBU
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Introduction
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak was born 24 February 1942. She is an Indian scholar, literary theorist and feminist critic. She is a university professor at the Columbia University and a founding member of the establishment's Institute for Comparative Literature and Society.
Considered one of the most influential postcolonial intellectuals, Spivak is best known for her essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?"
And for her translation of and introduction to Jacques Derrida's "De la grammatologie". She also translated such works of Mahasweta Devi as Imaginary Maps and Breast Stories into English and with separate critical appreciation on the texts and Devi's life and writing style in general.
Achievements
Spivak was awarded the 2012 Kyoto Prize in Arts and Philosophy for being "a critical theorist and educator speaking for the humanities against intellectual colonialism in relation to the globalized world." In 2013, she received the Padma Bhushan the third highest civilian award given by the Republic of India.
Definition
postcolonial theory, the term subaltern describes the lower classes and the social groups who are at the margins of a society: a subaltern is a person rendered without agency by social status.
A subaltern is someone with a low ranking in a social, political, or other hierarchy. It can also mean someone who has been marginalized or opoppresse.
Subalterns occupy entry-level jobs or occupy a lower rung of the "corporate ladder." But the term is also used to describe someone who has no political or economic power, such as a poor person living under a dictatorship.
critical theory and post colonialism, the term subaltern designates the populations which are socially, politically, and geographically outside of the hegemonic power structure of the colony and of the colonial homeland. In describing "history told from below", subaltern was coined by Antonio Gramsci, notably through his work on cultural hegemony, which identified the groups that are excluded from a society's established institutions and thus denied the means by which people have a voice in their society.
subaltern is not just a classy word for "oppressed", for somebody who's not getting a piece of the pie.... In post-colonial terms, everything that has limited or no access to the cultural imperialism is subaltern—a space of difference. Now, who would say that's just the oppressed? The working class is oppressed. It's not subaltern.... Many people want to claim subalternity. They are the least interesting and the most dangerous. I mean, just by being a discriminated-against minority on the university campus; they don't need the word 'subaltern'.... They should see what the mechanics of the discrimination are. They're within the hegemonic discourse, wanting a piece of the pie, and not being allowed, so let them speak, use the hegemonic discourse. They should not call themselves subaltern.
Can the Subaltern Speak?" (1988) by Gayatri Spivak relates to the manner in which western cultures investigate other cultures. Spivak uses the example of the Indian Sati practice of widow suicide, however the main significance of "Can the Subaltern Speak?" is in its first part which presents the ethical problems of investigating a different culture base on "universal" concepts and frameworks.
"Can the Subaltern Speak?" critically deals with an array of western writers starting from Marx to Foucault, Deleuze and Derrida. The basic claim and opening statement of "Can the Subaltern Speak?" is that western academic thinking is produced in order to support western economical interests. Spivak holds that knowledge is never innocent and that it expresses the interests of its producers. For Spivak knowledge is like any other commodity that is exported from the west to the third world for financial and other types of gain.
Spivak is wondering how can the third world subject be studied without cooperation with the colonial project. Spivak points to the fact that research is in a way always colonial, in defining the "other", the "over there" subject as the object of study and as something that knowledge should be extracted from and brought back "here". Basically we're talking about white men speaking to white men about coloured men/women. When Spivak examines the validity of the western representation of the other, she proposes that the discursive institutions which regulate writing about the other are shut off to postcolonial or feminist scrutiny.
This limitation, Spivak holds, is sue to the fact that critical thinking about the "other" tends to articulate its relation to the other with the hegemonic vocabulary. This is similar to feminist writers which abide by the patriarchy rules for academic writing.
In the following parts of "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Spivak is criticizing different critical writers and then moves on to the example of the Indian "Sati" practice.
Social point out that during colonialism the British assume the authority. And prerogative to speak for the oppressed native woman. The construction of the oppressed native woman was necessary to justified the presence of the modernized saviour Britisher. The native woman apparently called out for liberation. Which the white colonial master was supposed to provide. The nationalist also resurrected the voice of the native woman for their own end. But as spivak point out the voice of the woman is effaced in the discourse of both attionalism and post colonialism she is only speak for .
Building on this nation of the subaltern project was launched in 1982. Under the leadership of Ranajit Guha. This project argued that traditional historiography only celebrated the action of the elite. Thus the ‘freedom struggle' in traditional history was represented as the story of the action of select leaders like Gandhi , nehru and tilak. It ignored the peasant and tribal rebellions that preceded the formation of the Indian national congress. That is such as elitist history ignored or marginalized certain kinds of revolt against the British in favour of the dominant movement. The project therefore explored and records smaller rebellions & tried to redress this balance . It gave a voice to the subaltern within the freedom struggle.
Look us look at another concept map of the various kind of social formation and the subaltern they construct.
In a capitalist society the capitalist hold the power. The working class , toiling to generate profits for the capitalist lacks any agency. But it made to believe it is happy because capitalism as an ideology spreads the illusion that the exploitative capitalist system is actually a generous benevolent and caring patron to the working class.
Reflection of the subaltern Indian writing in English literature
Novel :
Untouchable
Mulk Raj Anand
Among the Indian English writers, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao and R. K. Narayan played a crucial role to bring India’s controversial inner issues in front of the world in the first half of the twentieth century. Those issues can be considered local issues of the Indian sub-continent but those have a universal appeal. We also observe that the other Indian writers from the present time have continued the trend of representing the struggle of the subalterns at various phases of life.
Among those writers of the present time, Arundhuti Roy, Amitav Ghosh, Kiran Desai and Rohinton Mistry are remarkable writers for their creative and in-depth perspectives.
Mulk Raj Anand’s "Untouchable" and Rohinton Mistry’s "A Fine Balance" concentrate on the miserable life of untouchable characters who try to
change their living condition by entering the centre from the periphery, but their attempt falls apart when it comes into conflict with reality. The portrayal of the subalterns in the two novels is
the crucial subject to be analyzed critically because of their authenticity to represent the
subalterns..
The most vital part of these two novels is their self-analytical approach. Both the stories are presented to readers from the subaltern perspective which is unacceptable to the society.
"Untouchable" focuses on Bakha, an eighteen years old sweeper in colonial
India. It also scrutinizes the depression of untouchables or lower class people and their rage against the upper caste. It gives a glimpse of a story of a day’s rural experience. The story displays the critical and tense relations among untouchable subalterns, upper caste Hindus, Muslims and Christian British colonizers.
Conclusion
Spivak's essay, "can Subaltern speak?" Challenges the idea of colonial "subject" and offers an example of the boundaries of the capability of western discourse,to interrelated with incongruent cultures.This essay is marked a paradigm shift in post-colonial studies..
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