This question is based on the following resources:

• Contemporary Social Theory, edited by Anthony Elliott, pp. 244-255, Chapter 18: Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Blackwell Reader, 1999. ISBN 0-631-20650-7(pbk.) Hardcopy.
• Short biography on Gayatri Chakrravorty Spivak. Online.
• Glossary of Key Terms in the Work of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak Online.
• hooks, bell. "Altars of Sacrifice: Re-membering Basquiat." Outlaw Culture: Resisting Representations. London: Routledge, 1994. pp. 25-37. Jean-Michel Basquiat is recognized as postcolonial. Hardcopy. But jeanne and Pat have copies.
• African American Studies and Postcolonialism Online.

Click on any of the letter responses for jeanne's lecture notes on that response.

2. What is subaltern theory?

1. Subaltern theory takes the perspective of the "Other" as the the one who has had no voice because of race, class, or gender. This theory is based on deconstruction as Derrida has proposed it. It emphasizes that norms are established by those in power and imposed on the "Other."

2. Subaltern theory, as reflected by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak abd Ranajit Guha, focusses on signifiers. This branch of the theory emphasizes the way in which the colonialist discourse has socially constructed the signifiers from the colonial language, giving no real voice to the oppressed and colonized.

3. Subaltern theory, as reflected by Homi Bhabha, tells another story of the signifier effects of the dominant discourse. Bhabha focusses on the fact that ideas are expressed in the dominant discourse, in which the oppressed and colonized are not well versed, so that they are not as skilled at expressing their validity claims. Consequently, the claims of the oppressed are often expressed in poor imitation of the master discourse, and thus, not given good faith hearing by those skilled in the use of the dominant discourse.

4. All of the above.

5. None of the above.

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