Gayatri Spivak’s “Can the Subaltern Speak”

Episode Overview

• This episode provides a detailed analysis of Gayatri Spivak's seminal and complex essay, "Can the Subaltern Speak?".
• The discussion begins by defining the term "subaltern" as a position outside dominant structures of understanding, a state of being "less than different."
• It explores Spivak's critique of post-structuralist thinkers like Foucault and Deleuze, whom she argues inadvertently erase the colonized "other" by speaking for them.
• The episode uses the historical case of Sati (widow immolation) to illustrate how the subaltern woman is trapped between native patriarchy and colonial imperialism, ultimately leading to Spivak's famous conclusion that the subaltern cannot speak.

Key Concepts

• The Subaltern: A position that exists outside the dominant "field of intelligibility." It is not simply being an "other" within a binary but being structurally silenced and rendered unable to express an authentic voice due to colonial erasure of cultural frameworks.
• Critique of Post-Structuralism: Spivak argues that thinkers like Deleuze and Foucault focus on individualistic "molecular" resistance, which neglects the larger ideological and institutional structures of power. Their concept of a free, undetermined subject is only possible when contrasted against a fixed, "determined other" (the colonized).
• The Problem of Representation: Western intellectuals, even with good intentions, often end up speaking for the subaltern, thereby re-inscribing their silence and occupying the space where their voice could emerge.
• Deconstruction: Spivak employs Derrida's method of deconstruction to dismantle the binary oppositions (e.g., colonizer/colonized, subject/object) that uphold colonial and patriarchal power structures.
• Sati as a Case Study: The British colonial abolition of widow immolation in India serves as the central example. The dynamic is framed as "white men saving brown women from brown men," where both colonial and patriarchal forces speak on behalf of the woman, erasing her agency.
• The "Violent Shuttling": The subaltern woman is trapped between two oppressive systems—native patriarchy and colonial imperialism. She is not a subject but a pawn in their power struggle, causing her own identity and voice to disappear.
• Unreadable Texts: The suicide of Bhuvaneswari Bhaduri is presented as an attempt by the subaltern to communicate through an act, but her message is ultimately misinterpreted and co-opted by the dominant discourses, proving that her "text" cannot be read.

Quotes

• At 3:14 - "difference works within a kind of dialectic. It works within a field of intelligibility... where these people aren't even recognized." - The speaker explains that the subaltern exists outside of the power structures that define and recognize difference.
• At 4:04 - "spoiler alert: for her, the subaltern cannot speak. That is how she ends the piece." - The speaker reveals Spivak's famous conclusion at the outset to frame the subsequent analysis.
• At 21:53 - "Their non-subject... this subject is someone that is only possible if it is placed in relationship to a determined other, a determined object." - Explaining Spivak's point that the fluid subject posited by Deleuze and Foucault can only be conceptualized in opposition to a marginalized "other."
• At 23:08 - "They really speak for the other. They really speak on behalf of the other." - Highlighting Spivak's central criticism that Western intellectuals end up representing and silencing the groups they are trying to analyze.
• At 36:56 - "...it comes down to white men... to save brown women from brown men. Or the verbatim it's 'white men are saving brown women from brown men.'" - The speaker introduces this iconic phrase to describe the self-serving logic of colonial intervention regarding Sati.
• At 42:02 - "Between patriarchy and imperialism, subject constitution and object formation, the figure of the woman disappears, not into a pristine nothingness, but into a violent shuttling." - A direct quote from Spivak showing how the subaltern woman is trapped between oppressive forces, leaving no space for her agency.
• At 46:51 - "The subaltern as female cannot be heard nor read." - In the context of Bhuvaneswari Bhaduri's suicide, this quote explains that even when the subaltern acts, her message is indecipherable within dominant frameworks.
• At 47:05 - "The subaltern cannot speak." - The speaker delivers the final, resounding conclusion of Spivak's essay, summarizing the structural impossibility for the oppressed to represent themselves and be heard.

Takeaways

• Critically examine who is speaking for whom; be wary of well-intentioned representation that may inadvertently silence the very groups it aims to support by occupying their space.
• Recognize that true oppression is often structural, not just individual. Focusing only on individual acts of resistance can mask the larger ideological and institutional systems that must be challenged.
• Understand that power dynamics are complex and not always simple binaries. Oppressed groups can be caught between multiple forms of domination, as with the subaltern woman trapped between patriarchy and imperialism.
• Acknowledge that silence can be a systemic condition. The inability to speak is not a personal failing but can be the result of a world that lacks the frameworks to listen, demanding a deconstruction of those frameworks themselves.