Are the “culture wars” over? When did they begin? What is their relationship to gender struggle and the dynamics of class? In her first full treatment of postcolonial studies, a field that she helped define, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, one of the world’s foremost literary theorists, poses these questions from within the postcolonial enclave. “We cannot merely continue to act out the part of Caliban,” Spivak writes; and her book is an attempt to understand and describe a more responsible role for the postcolonial critic. A Critique of Postcolonial Reason tracks the figure of the “native informant” through various cultural practices—philosophy, history, literature—to suggest that it emerges as the metropolitan hybrid. The book addresses feminists, philosophers, critics, and interventionist intellectuals, as they unite and divide. It ranges from Kant’s analytic of the sublime to child labor in Bangladesh. Throughout, the notion of a Third World interloper as the pure victim of a colonialist oppressor emerges as sharply suspect: the mud we sling at certain seemingly overbearing ancestors such as Marx and Kant may be the very ground we stand on. A major critical work, Spivak’s book redefines and repositions the postcolonial critic, leading her through transnational cultural studies into considerations of globality.

Spivak's work is essential, but very difficult to understand - this is the first student guide to her work, filling a glaring gap in the market Spivak is compulsory study on undergraduate literary theory courses. Her work covers feminism, deconstruction and post-colonialism, all core topics in literary theory Spivak is also central to the study of post-colonial literatures, which is one of the three most popular undergraduate modules in the UK Extremely clear structure. It concentrates on one idea per chapter A key addition to the Routledge Critical Thinkers series, providing clear introductions to key thinkers for students of literary studies

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's original essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?" transformed the analysis of colonialism through an eloquent and uncompromising argument that affirmed the contemporary relevance of Marxism while using deconstructionist methods to explore the international division of labor and capitalism's "worlding" of the world. Spivak's essay hones in on the historical and ideological factors that obstruct the possibility of being heard for those who inhabit the periphery. It is a probing interrogation of what it means to have political subjectivity, to be able to access the state, and to suffer the burden of difference in a capitalist system that promises equality yet withholds it at every turn. Since its publication, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" has been cited, invoked, imitated, and critiqued. In these phenomenal essays, eight scholars take stock of the effects and response to Spivak's work. They begin by contextualizing the piece within the development of subaltern and postcolonial studies and the quest for human rights. Then, through the lens of Spivak's essay, they rethink historical problems of subalternity, voicing, and death. A final section situates "Can the Subaltern Speak?" within contemporary issues, particularly new international divisions of labor and the politics of silence among indigenous women of Guatemala and Mexico. In an afterword, Spivak herself considers her essay's past interpretations and future incarnations and the questions and histories that remain secreted in the original and revised versions of "Can the Subaltern Speak?" both of which are reprinted in this book.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivaks seminal contribution to contemporary thought defies disciplinary boundaries. From her early translations of Derrida to her subsequent engagement with Marxism, feminism and postcolonial studies and her recent work on human rights, the war on terror and globalization, she has proved to be one of the most vital of present-day thinkers. In this book Stephen Morton offers a wide-ranging introduction to and critique of Spivaks work. He examines her engagements with philosophers and other thinkers from Kant to Paul de Man, feminists from Cixous to Helie-Lucas and literary texts by Charlotte Bronte, J. M. Coetzee, Mahasweta Devi and Jean Rhys. Spivaks thought is also situated in relation to subaltern studies. Throughout the book, Morton interrogates the materialist basis of Spivaks thought and demonstrates the ethical and political commitment which lies at the heart of her work. Stephen Morton provides an ideal introduction to the work of this complex and increasingly important thinker.

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak is one of the most pre-eminent postcolonial theorists writing today and a scholar of genuinely global reputation. This collection, first published in 1993, presents some of Spivak’s most engaging essays on works of literature such as Salman Rushdie's controversial Satanic Verses, and twentieth century thinkers such as Jacques Derrida and Karl Marx. Spivak relentlessly questions and deconstructs power structures where ever they operate. In doing so, she provides a voice for those who can not speak, proving that the true work of resistance takes place in the margins, Outside in the Teaching Machine.

The postcolonial moment has passed, but the need to locate and confront shifting forms of oppression remains imperative. For Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, such a task should be activated through long-term practice in the ethics of reading. In"Readings," Spivak elaborates a utopian vision: imaginative training for epistemological performance, to develop a will for peaceful social justice in coming generations. Teaching as she reads, she demonstrates modes in which such a vision might be apprehended. She celebrates Frantz Fanon s appropriation of Hegel. Preparing herself to read, she pays close attention to signposts of character, action and place in J. M. Coetzee s"Summertime" and Elizabeth Gaskell s"North and South."Re-reading two of her own essays, she addresses changes in her thinking and practice over the course of her career.Now, in her fifth decade of teaching, Spivak passes on her lessons through anecdote, interpretation, warning and instruction, to students and teachers of literature. She writes, I urge students of English to understand that utopia does not happen, and yet to understand, also, their importance to the nation and the world. Indeed, I know how hard it is to sustain such a spirit in the midst of a hostile polity, but I urge the students to consider the challenge. "

This book introduces and discusses the works of leading feminist postcolonialist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, by exploring the key concepts and themes to emerge from them. Focuses on the key themes to emerge from Spivak’s work, such as ethics, literature, feminism, pedagogy, postcoloniality, violence, and war Assesses Spivak’s often contentious relationship with feminist and postcolonial studies Considers the significance of her work for other fields, such as ethnography, history, cultural studies and philosophy