re-reading forty pages of spivak tonight for a class tomorrow morning, and needed this refresher to wrap my broken brain around the concept. thank u!!!!!!!!!
Minimum time taken! Maximum output! Thanks for the knowledge provided within this short span of time! Ur way of delivery forced to comment and lose my 20 secs !
So would the homeless be classified as subaltern? They don't tend to have access to power or a platform to speak on but they also have other people speaking for them.
According to some theorists yes. However, the term subaltern is mostly used in relation to colonial or postcolonial contexts, so often involves an element of racialization or orientalization. All that being said, because the Americas are postcolonial contexts and because of the often highly racialized demographics of homeless, I would argue that in North America, for example, most homeless are subaltern.
Great point! For a quick summary it is difficult to go into details, but basically you are correct, and the issue is about the structure of Empire such that nobody listens in such a way such that the subaltern cannot speak--they are always spoken for.
I'm not a professional philosopher or theorists, but I think deconstructionism shows it's the least of the concern. Speaking out is a way of communication and if there's no communication ("nobody listens"), then free speech in such case is an illusion. Allowing of free speech is common to oppressors not just for self-soothing act of the oppressed. It's also much safer than risking revolutions and underground organizations. We can see great names that turned that free speech illusion into real thing (they got heard), but 1) it's still a few, it's still not a mainstream problem that world fights with - they do a great work, but even more needs to be done; 2) we know about people we know; we don't know about these who disappeared, lost their will, died or killed themselves. So, even with free speech around the world (sic; there's always *some* freedom, so we can put it in that way), they are tiny fraction of fraction, again showing that speech isn't the main problem here - but rather a cog of a rusty clockwork mechanism which would need to move everything at once to be itself - and it's hell of a task.
Hi! That's too much to answer in one comment. I would say start with the Introduction chapter to Edward Said's Orientalism, then move to The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Good luck!
Hi Yusuf. For an introductory take on the subaltern, I would try various anthologies like the Post-Colonial Studies Reader, especially the selection by Spivak. Another source might be Selected Subaltern Studies, edited by Ranajit Guha, though that would be intermediate. If you really want to get in-depth, check out this bibliography: asianstudies.github.io/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/subalternBib.html.
Imagine there are three classes the Oppressor,the Oppressed and the people who are exploited by the Oppressed themselves - the Subaltern. Here Oppressor is them, Oppressed is other and those exploited by the Oppressed are the subaltern.
@@fuzzytheory Thanks so much for the explanation. There are videos on RUclips that are several hours long and yet they don't succinctly explain what you explained in 3 minutes.
Hi! Dr. Aziz is not a subaltern in the novel, he would be characterized as merely altern. The subaltern would be any of the nameless characters in the background described in ways that reflect the colonial gaze about the "setting" of the "Orient".
@@fuzzytheory I bow you for that definition of subaltern. Of course that doesn't bring me any closer to understanding what is it to be a subaltern (European here, so I can't even pretend I'd understand fully), doesn't bring any scientific knowledge, but it feels strong on my emotional side.
The greater question is.... Does affirmative action or reservations used in a place like India change this? Considering Modi-ji himself is of backward-caste. At this point the subaltern is almost so loud, so disassimilated to the world around them that they have confused their inability to mainstream to being unheard.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. I would argue the opposite, especially in the case of India. While the marginalized can be at times mobilized for communal politics or other mobilizations, we can wonder how much their voice, political or otherwise, is actually heard. Further, the problem with the concept of the subaltern is that once someone is heard by the status quo powers that be, then as Spivak says, they aren't really subaltern anymore are they? I might suggest some of the works of Dr. Ambedkar or Arundhati Roy on the question of, says, Dalits as examples of subaltern. That might give another perspective some of the things you are thinking about. Thanks for sharing!
re-reading forty pages of spivak tonight for a class tomorrow morning, and needed this refresher to wrap my broken brain around the concept. thank u!!!!!!!!!
Haha! Glad to help!
Well said sir
@Haytham is there! ok. thank u, very helpful
YOOOO!!! Me too!!!
Same😭😭
Thank you man after 6 years of this I finally understand
Haha. Glad I could help!
You are great
You cleared my confusions
who presses the dislike button? the video is very informative and clear
the colonizer
Briefly yet vividly explained
Thanks!
Minimum time taken! Maximum output! Thanks for the knowledge provided within this short span of time!
Ur way of delivery forced to comment and lose my 20 secs !
So would the homeless be classified as subaltern? They don't tend to have access to power or a platform to speak on but they also have other people speaking for them.
According to some theorists yes. However, the term subaltern is mostly used in relation to colonial or postcolonial contexts, so often involves an element of racialization or orientalization. All that being said, because the Americas are postcolonial contexts and because of the often highly racialized demographics of homeless, I would argue that in North America, for example, most homeless are subaltern.
In short video you have given the great explanation Thanks a ton
Thanks!
Appreciated efforts 👏
Thank you so much!
Excellent summary!
Thank you!
Wait. I thought Subaltern can speak, but nobody listens. Am I wrong?
Great point! For a quick summary it is difficult to go into details, but basically you are correct, and the issue is about the structure of Empire such that nobody listens in such a way such that the subaltern cannot speak--they are always spoken for.
I'm not a professional philosopher or theorists, but I think deconstructionism shows it's the least of the concern. Speaking out is a way of communication and if there's no communication ("nobody listens"), then free speech in such case is an illusion. Allowing of free speech is common to oppressors not just for self-soothing act of the oppressed. It's also much safer than risking revolutions and underground organizations. We can see great names that turned that free speech illusion into real thing (they got heard), but 1) it's still a few, it's still not a mainstream problem that world fights with - they do a great work, but even more needs to be done; 2) we know about people we know; we don't know about these who disappeared, lost their will, died or killed themselves. So, even with free speech around the world (sic; there's always *some* freedom, so we can put it in that way), they are tiny fraction of fraction, again showing that speech isn't the main problem here - but rather a cog of a rusty clockwork mechanism which would need to move everything at once to be itself - and it's hell of a task.
Whose and which subaltern theory can be applied to the novel which deals with caste and gender discrimination
Unfortunately, the comment section is not a ChatGPT input.
How to the relation between geopolitics and literature. Please guide it, sir,
Hi! That's too much to answer in one comment. I would say start with the Introduction chapter to Edward Said's Orientalism, then move to The Postcolonial Studies Reader. Good luck!
Can you suggest books or papers where I can learn more about this Subaltern?
Hi Yusuf. For an introductory take on the subaltern, I would try various anthologies like the Post-Colonial Studies Reader, especially the selection by Spivak. Another source might be Selected Subaltern Studies, edited by Ranajit Guha, though that would be intermediate. If you really want to get in-depth, check out this bibliography: asianstudies.github.io/area-studies/SouthAsia/Ideas/subalternBib.html.
I need more and more about subaltern concept...pls hlp
Really help me to understand
Happy to help!
what is the difference between the other and subaltern?
Imagine there are three classes the Oppressor,the Oppressed and the people who are exploited by the Oppressed themselves - the Subaltern. Here Oppressor is them, Oppressed is other and those exploited by the Oppressed are the subaltern.
@@pratikmaitra8543 Well said. Other is the altern, and Subaltern is thus those othered by the Other. Hope that helps Prashant!
@@fuzzytheory Thanks so much for the explanation. There are videos on RUclips that are several hours long and yet they don't succinctly explain what you explained in 3 minutes.
Sir, Is Aziz a Subaltern in E.M Forster's "A Passage to India"?
If not then who is the subaltern in the novel?
Please Sir answer
Hi! Dr. Aziz is not a subaltern in the novel, he would be characterized as merely altern. The subaltern would be any of the nameless characters in the background described in ways that reflect the colonial gaze about the "setting" of the "Orient".
@@fuzzytheory I bow you for that definition of subaltern. Of course that doesn't bring me any closer to understanding what is it to be a subaltern (European here, so I can't even pretend I'd understand fully), doesn't bring any scientific knowledge, but it feels strong on my emotional side.
👍🏻👍🏻
Its too low
Please get your voice and the presentation clear
Thanks!
The greater question is.... Does affirmative action or reservations used in a place like India change this? Considering Modi-ji himself is of backward-caste. At this point the subaltern is almost so loud, so disassimilated to the world around them that they have confused their inability to mainstream to being unheard.
Hi there, thanks for your comment. I would argue the opposite, especially in the case of India. While the marginalized can be at times mobilized for communal politics or other mobilizations, we can wonder how much their voice, political or otherwise, is actually heard. Further, the problem with the concept of the subaltern is that once someone is heard by the status quo powers that be, then as Spivak says, they aren't really subaltern anymore are they? I might suggest some of the works of Dr. Ambedkar or Arundhati Roy on the question of, says, Dalits as examples of subaltern. That might give another perspective some of the things you are thinking about. Thanks for sharing!
👍👍👍