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Subalternity as Margin and Center of Anachronistic Discourse

Year 2019, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 62 - 78, 30.06.2019

Abstract

Subalternity is a concept that has taken on many different meanings across multiple schools of thought. Beginning with Gramsci, subalternity described the unique position of rural workers as powerless and problematic to the Marxist dialectic. Following the English translation of Gramsci, the Subaltern Studies group extended the position of the subaltern into the post-colonial heterogeneity of rural space. Within this context, through Gayatri Spivak’s concept of the subaltern as rural postcolonial woman, subalternity becomes a condition of speechlessness. From Spivak’s reworking of subalternity, US third world feminism has developed a theory of difference and a mode of resistance. Meanwhile, Gramsci scholars have criticized these transformations of Gramsci’s concept of subalternity as anachronistic. They contend that each of the appropriations from Gramsci have further obscured Gramsci’s concept of subalternity producing a theory far from that envisioned by Gramsci. However, as specified by Gramsci, faithful readings and applications of outdated concepts becomes an “anachronism in one’s own time” (Gramsci, Selections, 628). Thus, while the Subaltern Studies group, Spivak and US third world feminism have resignified Gramsci’s subalternity from the rural south of Italian agricultural workers to the voicelessness of the post-colonial woman, their resignifications of subalternity are a development of theory that transcends the texts of Gramsci. This paper argues that Spivak’s and US third world feminism’s revision of subalternity avoids the Gramscian anachronism while developing a theory of both the state of subalternity and the escape of subalternity on “the long road toward hegemony” (Spivak, A Critique of Post-Colonial Reason, 310). 

References

  • Berlant, Lauren. The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship. Duke University Press, 1997, 2005.
  • Blackwell, Maylei. Chicana Power: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano Movement. University of Texas Press, 2011.
  • Chakrabarty, Dipesh. “Subaltern Studies and Postcolonial Historiography.” Nepantla: Views from South, vol. 1, no. 1, 2000, pp. 9-32.
  • Fraser, Nancy. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Calhoun, Craig., MIT Press, 1992, pp. 56-80.
  • Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. “Preface.” Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Translaeted and edited by Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, International Publishers, 1971.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. “Notes on Italian History: History of the Subaltern Classes: Methodological Criteria.” Selections from the Prison Notebooks, Translated and edited by Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, International Publishers, 1971.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. The Modern Prince and Other Writings. Translated and edited by Marks, Louis, International Publishers, 1957, 1987.
  • Green, Marcus. “Gramsci Cannot Speak: Presentations and Interpretations of Gramsci’s Concept of the Subaltern.” Rethinking Marxism, vol. 14, no. 3, Fall 2002, pp. 1-23.
  • Guha, Ranajit. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Duke University Press, 1983, 1999
  • Guha, Ranajit and Spivak, Gayatri. Selected Subaltern Studies. Oxford University Press, 1988. hooks, bell. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. South End Press, 1989.
  • Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press, 1962, 1970.
  • Louai, El Habib. “Retracing the Concept of the Subaltern from Gramsci to Spivak: Historical Development and New Application.” African Journal of History and Culture. vol. 4, no. 1, January 2012.
  • Sandoval, Chela. "U.S. Third World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World." Genders, No. 10, Spring 1991, pp. 1-24.
  • Selenu, Stefano. “In search of a postcolonial Gramsci: method, thought, and intellectuals.” Postcolonial Studies. vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, pp. 102-109.
  • Skinner, Quentin. “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas.” History and Theory, vol. 8, no. 1, 1969, pp. 3-53.
  • Spivak, Gayatri. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Edited by Nelson, Cary and Grossberg, MacMillan, 1988.
  • ——. “Who Claims Alterity?” Edited by Kruger, Barbara and Mariani, Phil Dia. Art Foundation Discussions in Contemporary Culture, no. 4, Bay Press, 1989.
  • ——. An Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization. Harvard University Press, 2012.
  • ——. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Harvard University Press, 1999.
  • ——. “The New Subaltern: A Silent Interview,” Mapping Subaltern Studies and the Postcolonial. Edited by Chaturvedi, Vinayak, Verso, 2000.
  • ——. Conversations with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Edited by Chakravorty, Swapan, Mileska, Suzana and Barlow, Tani E., Seagull Books, 2006.
  • Springer, Kimberly. Living for the Revolution: Black Feminist Organizations, 19681980. Duke University Press, 2005.
  • Srivastava, Neelam and Bhattacharya, Baidik, editors. The Postcolonial Gramsci. Routledge, 2012.
  • Zene, Cosimo. “Self-Consciousness of the Dalits as “Subalterns”: Reflections on Gramsci in South Asia.” Rethinking Marxism, no. 23, 2011.

Anakronistik Söylemin Sınırı ve Merkezi Olarak Maduniyet

Year 2019, Volume: 13 Issue: 1, 62 - 78, 30.06.2019

Abstract

Maduniyet ya da alt-sınıfa ait olma farklı ekollerde birçok farklı anlamda kullanıla gelen bir kavramdır. Gramsci ile başlayan maduniyet kavramı, Marx’ın burjuva ve proletarya diyalektiğinde taşralı işçilerin güçsüz ve problematik durumunu tanımlamak için kullanılmıştır. Gramsci’nin İngilizceye çevirilerinin ardından Subaltern Studies Group olarak bilinen çalışma grubu, madunluk kavramını kolonisonrası dönemde bir zamanlar sömürgeciliğe uğramış ezilmiş toplumları tanımlamak için kullanmıştır. Spivak’ın taşralı, koloni-sonrası kadınları da madun olarak tanımlamasıyla, maduniyet bir suskunluk durumunu tanımlar hale gelmiştir. Spivak’ın terimi bu şekilde tanımlamasının ardından Amerika’da 3. dünya feminizmi bir tür direniş modeli geliştirmiştir. Gramsci ekolüne dahil olanlar maduniyet teriminin anlam değiştirerek kullanımını anakroniktik bulmaktadır. Anlamca bu değişimlerin her biri maduniyet kavramının daha da muğlak hale gelmesine yol açmış ve Gramsci’nin ilk tanımladığı şekilden uzaklaştırmıştır. Ancak Gramsci’nin de söylediği gibi güncelliğini yitirmiş kavramların aslına sadık okumaları ve uygulamaları “kendi zamanında bir anakronizm” oluşmasına yol açar (Gramsci, Selections, 628). Bu sebeple, Subaltern Studies Group, Spivak ve Amerikan 3. Dünya feminizmiyle Gramsci’nin madunluk kavramı İtalyan tarım işçilerinden uzaklaşarak koloni sonrası kadınların sessizliğinde yeniden tanımlanırken, bu yeni maduniyet tanımları Gramsci’nin metinlerini aşan bir teorinin gelişimini beraberinde getirmiştir. Bu çalışma, Spivak ve Amerikan 3. Dünya feminizmiyle değişen maduniyet, hem bir durum “hem de hegemonyaya giden uzun yoldan” (Spivak, A Critique of Post-Colonial Reason, 310) bir kaçış olarak kuramsallaşırken, Gramsci’nin anakronizminden de uzak kalabilmiştir. 

References

  • Berlant, Lauren. The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship. Duke University Press, 1997, 2005.
  • Blackwell, Maylei. Chicana Power: Contested Histories of Feminism in the Chicano Movement. University of Texas Press, 2011.
  • Chakrabarty, Dipesh. “Subaltern Studies and Postcolonial Historiography.” Nepantla: Views from South, vol. 1, no. 1, 2000, pp. 9-32.
  • Fraser, Nancy. “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy.” Habermas and the Public Sphere, edited by Calhoun, Craig., MIT Press, 1992, pp. 56-80.
  • Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey. “Preface.” Selections from the Prison Notebooks. Translaeted and edited by Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, International Publishers, 1971.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. “Notes on Italian History: History of the Subaltern Classes: Methodological Criteria.” Selections from the Prison Notebooks, Translated and edited by Hoare, Quintin and Nowell-Smith, Geoffrey, International Publishers, 1971.
  • Gramsci, Antonio. The Modern Prince and Other Writings. Translated and edited by Marks, Louis, International Publishers, 1957, 1987.
  • Green, Marcus. “Gramsci Cannot Speak: Presentations and Interpretations of Gramsci’s Concept of the Subaltern.” Rethinking Marxism, vol. 14, no. 3, Fall 2002, pp. 1-23.
  • Guha, Ranajit. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Duke University Press, 1983, 1999
  • Guha, Ranajit and Spivak, Gayatri. Selected Subaltern Studies. Oxford University Press, 1988. hooks, bell. Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black. South End Press, 1989.
  • Kuhn, Thomas. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press, 1962, 1970.
  • Louai, El Habib. “Retracing the Concept of the Subaltern from Gramsci to Spivak: Historical Development and New Application.” African Journal of History and Culture. vol. 4, no. 1, January 2012.
  • Sandoval, Chela. "U.S. Third World Feminism: The Theory and Method of Oppositional Consciousness in the Postmodern World." Genders, No. 10, Spring 1991, pp. 1-24.
  • Selenu, Stefano. “In search of a postcolonial Gramsci: method, thought, and intellectuals.” Postcolonial Studies. vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, pp. 102-109.
  • Skinner, Quentin. “Meaning and Understanding in the History of Ideas.” History and Theory, vol. 8, no. 1, 1969, pp. 3-53.
  • Spivak, Gayatri. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Edited by Nelson, Cary and Grossberg, MacMillan, 1988.
  • ——. “Who Claims Alterity?” Edited by Kruger, Barbara and Mariani, Phil Dia. Art Foundation Discussions in Contemporary Culture, no. 4, Bay Press, 1989.
  • ——. An Aesthetic Education in the Era of Globalization. Harvard University Press, 2012.
  • ——. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason. Harvard University Press, 1999.
  • ——. “The New Subaltern: A Silent Interview,” Mapping Subaltern Studies and the Postcolonial. Edited by Chaturvedi, Vinayak, Verso, 2000.
  • ——. Conversations with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Edited by Chakravorty, Swapan, Mileska, Suzana and Barlow, Tani E., Seagull Books, 2006.
  • Springer, Kimberly. Living for the Revolution: Black Feminist Organizations, 19681980. Duke University Press, 2005.
  • Srivastava, Neelam and Bhattacharya, Baidik, editors. The Postcolonial Gramsci. Routledge, 2012.
  • Zene, Cosimo. “Self-Consciousness of the Dalits as “Subalterns”: Reflections on Gramsci in South Asia.” Rethinking Marxism, no. 23, 2011.
There are 24 citations in total.

Details

Primary Language English
Journal Section Articles
Authors

Patrick Matthew Farr This is me 0000-0002-9059-9381

Publication Date June 30, 2019
Published in Issue Year 2019 Volume: 13 Issue: 1

Cite

APA Farr, P. M. (2019). Subalternity as Margin and Center of Anachronistic Discourse. Cankaya University Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 13(1), 62-78.

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