Subaltern (post-colonialism)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The term subaltern is used in postcolonial theory to refer to marginalized groups and the lower classes; this sense of the word was coined by Antonio Gramsci. In current philosophical and critical usage, the term specifically describes a person rendered without agency by her or his social status, a sense that owes its influence to Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's 1988 essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?"
In his 1996 essay "Unsatisfied: Notes on Vernacular Cosmopolitanism" Homi Bhabha emphasizes the importance of social power relations in his working definition of 'subaltern' groups as
oppressed, minority groups whose presence was crucial to the self-definition of the majority group: subaltern social groups were also in a position to subvert the authority of those who had hegemonic power.
[edit] External links
- Subaltern.org: An organization for underrepresented artists.
- The website defines "Subaltern" in the following manner: "Originally a term for subordinates in military hierarchies, the term subaltern is elaborated in the work of Antonio Gramsci to refer to groups who are outside the established structures of political representation. In 'Can the Subaltern Speak?' Gayatri Spivak suggests that the subaltern is denied access to both mimetic and political forms of representation."
