Postcolonial Studies: Understanding the Subaltern Position

What is the primary focus of the lectures in this series?

What is the title of the short story that will be studied in the next lecture?

According to Spivak, what is a characteristic of the subaltern position?

What is the main argument of Spivak's essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak'?

What is the purpose of revisiting Spivak's essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak' in the lecture?

What is the role of the subaltern in generating discourse, according to Spivak?

What is the primary focus of Spivak's essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak'?

According to Ranajit Guha's categorisation, who belongs to the group of elites?

What is the danger of the elite trying to represent the subaltern, according to Spivak?

What is the outcome of the elite's attempt to represent the subaltern, according to Spivak?

What is the critical question that Spivak's essay raises?

What is the nature of the ethical response that Spivak's essay calls for?

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's Theorisation of the Subaltern Position

The subaltern is a position of disempowerment and marginalisation, characterised by the inability to generate discourse about one's own desires, interests, and self-identity.
Spivak's argument is that for someone within the position of subalternity, it is impossible to speak about one's own desires, interests, and self-identity.
The statement "the subaltern cannot speak" is a cryptic but powerful statement that highlights the characterising feature of the subaltern position.
Spivak's essay "Can the Subaltern Speak" is not limited to showing that the subaltern cannot speak, but also acts as a trigger for ethical intervention.
The realisation of the subaltern's disempowerment leads to the question of what should be the critical response to it, the ethical response, and the response of those who have agency and whose speech is recognised within the society as meaningful discourse.
The question of how to respond to the subaltern's inability to speak raises the issue of who should speak for the subaltern.
A simplistic answer would be that the elites, who have agency and whose discourse is regarded as valid, should speak for the subaltern.
However, Spivak points out that this desire to speak for someone else is fraught with dangers, as the elite may end up speaking for their own self rather than the subaltern.
The act of speaking for the subaltern can result in the elite's own desires, interests, and voice being represented as the voice of the subaltern, rather than the subaltern's own voice.

Delve into the world of Postcolonial Studies and explore Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's concept of the subaltern position through Mahasweta Devi's short story. This quiz will revisit Spivak's influential essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak' and test your understanding of the subaltern's voice.