Gayatri Chakravtory Spivaks’ “Can the Subaltern Speak?” delves into the idea that Western Europe has influenced our law, political economy, and ideology to work it is favor. Spivak argues that history is written in favor of imperialism, and the colonizer. These effects of Eurocentric ideology produces a “subject of Other” (Spivak 24). This means that the West was always working in favor of itself, and leaves the colonized country as the ‘other’. Spivak’s piece is not to “describe ‘the way things really were'” but rather “offer an account of how an explanation and narrative of reality was established as the normative one” (Spivak 25). The history of the world has been written by the imperialist countries, and Spivak’s piece challenges whether the subaltern, or the colonized countries, can change the narrative.
In similar theory, Nelson Mandela’s “ I am Prepared to Die” discusses the meaning of colonialism and how Western Europe has infiltrated society so heavily. Mandela states that the laws of colonized Africa “are designed to preserve” white supremacy and the wealth disparities in Africa (Mandela 1). He argues that the laws of colonialism were in favor of the colonizer, mostly Western countries, and leaves the Other to suffer. Colonized Africa, the subaltern, functions so that “whites enjoy…the highest standard of living” and the “Africans live in poverty and misery” due to Western Influence (Mandela 1). Written in history textbooks, these Western countries were expanding for resources, military, and power. In reality, this imperialism and the colonialism of Africa created a system of inequality and unfair opportunities for Black people. The colonizer disrupted the fairness of their system in order to favor themselves and their own economic gain.
Spivak fights for the same idea, only with India as the subaltern example instead of Africa. In Spivak’s piece, the subaltern is “the demographic difference between the total Indian population and all those whom we have described as the ‘elite'” (Spivak 26). However, both pieces demonstrate the danger of the single story of the West. The subaltern, whether it be Africa or India, must learn to speak before it cannot any longer, and gets written over by the single story of the Imperialist West.
Sources:
Chakravorty Spivak, Gayatri. Can the Subaltern Speak?
Mandela, Nelson. “Nelson Mandela: An Ideal for Which I Am Prepared to Die.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 23 Apr. 2007, www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/23/nelsonmandela.
Nice job on your post! I believe that the question “can the subaltern speak?” not only applies to western imperialism, but any type of imperialistic or invasive cultures on a group of people of area. Throughout history, those imposing on another country are always working in favor of themselves. When observing how history is written, it basically plays back to the “fact” that winners write the history books. While it is a sad truth that disenfranchises the thoughts and ideals of “the other”, its occurred time and time again.
Hello,
History definitely has been written by the imperialist countries since they are the countries who had more power over the countries they colonized. Adichie’s single story concept ties here since imperialist countries are the countries who write the single narrative, not the colonized countries. Before a country gets colonized, they would appear wealthy and great. After a country gets colonized, they would look poor and horrible since imperial countries took their resources and created new laws that benefit the imperialists. Hopefully, the colonized countries spread out their own stories of the life before colonization so a single story would not keep lingering.
Hey! I like that you mentioned the real life effects the one sided story telling has led to. It seems similar to how the loudest/biggest/first voice in the room gets heard. I always found it interesting that every history textbook I have ever read in primary school had been written by a white man. It seems that even the most unbiased person in a colonialist country would still never be able to fully understand the intricacies of the history outside of the west and other cultures. This thoughtfulness is very similar to Adichie’s “Danger of a Single Story” reading.
I enjoyed reading this context presentation as I really enjoyed the comparison to Nelson Mandela’s story as well. This was an insightful comparison, as both the countries in the continent of Africa and the country of India have significant histories of being colonized throughout the centuries. I find it fascinating to learn and read about the stories and perspectives of others, as I am so used to my one “single story” that I have grown up with. It is easy to just observe and live our day to data lives without any notice or respect towards others’ backgrounds and struggles and just focus on ourselves, but like we have been echoing in the past weeks and this week, it is important not to fall victim to a single story.
Hello, I first wanted to say that I enjoyed reading through your context presentation. Looking at the idea that Western Europe and imperialism as a whole influenced other countries with only their own interest in mind, I thought I could add some details. As you mention in the presentation, when European countries colonized Africa, they designed everything to benefit them and them only, while additionally making it difficult for Africa to work through the design set up by the Europeans. I believe the signs that Europe was going to do this can be seen even earlier. When European countries first attempted to colonize Africa, they had no regard for those living there and the borders they had set up for themselves, all they cared about were getting the best resources and making the most money possible. They fought over which colony got to colonize what, redrawing borders over a content that already had borders, thinking of only themselves. This separated those who once lived together, upending lives in favor of the resources and port access that the western countries wanted, having no regard for the consequences that followed in Africa. With that being said, I believe it can be seen that right from the jump, the European countries coming into Africa only cared about themselves and what they could get out of colonization. I think that it is important to understand that when reading about that time period, for there should be no doubt that Europe only ever had their own interests in mind, at no point did they care about what was happening to the people of Africa.
Hi, I thought you did well on your post, and I liked how you compared Spivak’s teachings to Nelson Mandela and his fight against apartheid in South Africa. The laws of colonists in many regions they take over is intended to make their power long-lasting, and it puts many groups such as the subaltern at a disadvantage. Through these patterns of revolutions across time and the world, it seems that there has always been someone to give a voice to this subaltern group. MLK for example would be a voice for the poor black sharecroppers in the south, Gandhi for the poverty stricken families and children and India, and many others who helped to give the subalterns a voice. I believe this pattern emerges because of an indifference by the elite classes to self analyze and think about the morality of their actions. I wonder how you think change for subalterns could happen if there isn’t a voice for them, will they just continue to suffer?
This post forces us to listen for the voice of the subaltern rather than the imperialist civilization. It frightens me that the subaltern is losing its voice. We cannot lose the voice of the people of an entire nation and trade it for a single story. So much culture and truth would be lost. We need to encourage the promotion of subaltern voices and works in an attempt to overcome the single story created by Western Imperialism.
Hello! Your presentation was put together very well. I notice this theme in a lot of the stories we have read. Stories are told through a superior’s perspective or a masters perspective. Western imperialism creates this picture of the subaltern, much like First or Second World Countries create a specific narrative for Third World Countries.
I am happy to know someone like Spivak is pinpointing the influence of Western Europe, because it is very different from Eastern Europe with regards to the development of their sphere of influence. I agree, Western Europeans have tremendously impacted America in its infancy up to today in overwhelmingly negative but also positive ways. I believe the history most of the world knows is written in academic history textbooks in K-12 schools and on mainstream, historical TV shows and websites written by Western Europeans. I really like your connection to Nelson Mandela because South Africa faced an entirely different struggle during the apartheid than America did. People in the United States are far more sensitive when discussing race, class, and other features of citizens than South Africans are who are unapologetically explicit and vocal about the divides that exist in their country.
Hi! I enjoyed your presentation! I liked how quick you were to compare this to the “other,” idea as the colonized country as the other whereas the West was the “master.” I also enjoyed how you included the single story idea of the West especially considering history textbooks and how Westerners were expanding for resources. This is a huge factor as throughout school we base our learnings on history textbooks assuming this is the truth for all. Whereas the truth is within Africa and India but this is not exploited and demonstrated but rather overwritten. I liked how you mentioned the idea that white prefer the wealthy living and the Africans live in poverty. There is a huge difference where the whites “prefer” rather than are forced to “live,” as there is differences in society and privilege’s where unfair and inequality is a huge factor.
I really liked how you put this presentation together. I think it was great that you compared Spivak to Mandela as well. You can really see how the stories are wrote through the eyes of the master compared to the “others”. With the things you said in this you can really see how it connects through the other readings we have done through the class so far.
I really enjoyed your post. I won’t lie, I was a bit confused reading “Can the Subaltern Speak?” passage this week. Your post really broke down the story for me and helped me understand it in a different way. I feel that there are many examples of the subaltern in our history and today. World War II is a great example of the subaltern. The majority of the European countries were under the Nazi regime. White supremacy had taken over and many people lost the majority of their human rights. They lost the right to live normally and safe in their homes. This also still applies to many countries in Western Civilization. The privilege some get because of the color of their skin is sickening. Culture is supposed to be a beautiful thing, not a threat.
Hi! Very interesting presentation! I liked how you compared Spivak to Mandela and found a connection between the two and tied in concepts we’ve talked about in previous weeks.