Approaching a Borderless World: Can the Subaltern Speak?
Learning to Listen and Seeing with the 3rd Eye of Wisdom.
It starts with love. . . a love of learning. . .
Antonio Gramsci's (1891-1937) used the term "subaltern" to represent the oppressed.
Are the Silent Majority Forever Silent?
The Postcolonial Paradox: A Question to Ask
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" questions the claims of the Ranajit Guhas' Subaltern Studies in the 1980's and how it "speaks" for the Indian voices once silenced. Instead, its anti-imperialistic voice is merely a false voice.
Most of the writings of World Literature are written in European languages. Some critics attack those writers as being Western and not able to write about the Other. Even in our own country, ethnic writers like Alice Walker (African American), N. Scott Momaday (Native Indian), and Amy Tan (Asian American) have been attacked as being non-authentic and not representing the true voices of their ethnicities.
They win awards because they write what the critics and public want to hear about ethnicity. They have sold out.
Thus, for some, those who are submerged in the Subaltern, those of the third world (the majority of the earth's population), are forever silent. Those who have the chance to write and publish, often trained in the Western perspective, replicate Western values, Western literary forms and Western traditions.
They are not able to write about the reality of the silent majority: the true Subaltern.
White Man's Burden (1899) by Rudyard Kipling's
Take up the White Man's burden--
Send forth the best ye breed--
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild--
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
Thank you for reading. . . .Are we truly reading the world ?
Or are we merely hearing the voices of the master narratives of writers like Kipling? You judge.
It starts with love. . . Love of reading. . .
About the Creator
SAMURAI SAM AND WILD DRAGONS
DR. WAYNE STEIN Ted Talk Speaker, Amazon Author, Asian Gothic Scholar; Yoga Certified, Black Belts. Writer Program Admin, Writing Center Director, Cancer Survivor, Korean Born , Raised in Japan and Italy, grew up In Los Angeles.
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Comments (4)
This was so deep, eye opening, and thought provoking. Loved your poem@
Great observation, and so true, most mainstream writers don't offer much substance in their stories. All seem to be following each other, likely for acceptance, awards and money. Perhaps someday other narratives and viewpoints will emerge broadly, as popular media, and readers, becomes more inclusive.
The references to Gramsci, Spivak, and Kipling create a strong intellectual lineage. Bringing “White Man’s Burden” into the discussion sharpens the critique of enduring imperial narratives.
WELCOME to the WORLD