Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture

by Cary Nelson (Editor), Lawrence Grossberg (Editor)

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Cultural Studies, Theory, Academia, Politics

752 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

Reviews

[Mir]

I read some chapters from this for a reading group at university, including the perhaps best-known piece, "Can the Subaltern Speak?" by Gayatri Spivak. Spivak rewrote essentially the same essay several times, so what I read may not be exactly what you (hypothetically) read. For instance, this text by the same title reuses some of this article word-for-word, but varies in other paragraphs. Maybe she ought to have subtitled them .1, etc for clarity...

https://archive.org/stream/CanTheSuba...

Some of the most radical criticism coming out of the West today is the result of an
interested desire to conserve the subject of the West, or the West as Subject. The
theory of pluralized ‘subject-effects’ gives an illusion of undermining subjective
sovereignty while often providing a cover for this subject of knowledge. Although
the history of Europe as Subject is narrativized by the law, political economy and
ideology of the West, this concealed Subject pretends it has ‘no geo-political
determinations’. The much publicized critique of this sovereign subject thus actually inaugurates a Subject...
This S/subject, curiously sewn into a transparency by denegations, belongs to the exploiters' side of the international division of labor.
...
The clearest available example of such epistemic violence is the remotely orchestrated, far-flung and heterogeneous project to constitute the colonial subject as Other.
...
Let us now move to consider the margins (one can just as well say the silent, silenced center) of the circuit marked out by this epistemic violence.

Spivak cites figures who were (still are?) trendy to reference when I was in grad school: Foucault and Deleuze, Guha and Said, Derrida. She was certainly important in the field of Subaltern Studies, so read this if you are interested that area.

[Cameron]

an omnibus of mid-80s neomarxist thought by an A-list group of scholars and theorists. you're going to need an entire case of Aleve to get through Spivak, but much of the rest of the volume is surprisingly readable and has had serious traction on current literary and historical problems twenty-five years after its publication. see, for example, perry anderson's excellent work on reclaiming the volatile political moment of early modernism.

[Wolfe Tone]

Marxism is too often seen solely as a philosophy of economic determinism. In this brilliant collection of essay by some of the foremost neo-marxist scholars of the time the marxist philosophy proves it has a very unique and fascinating view of culture and art. A must-read for all those concerned with the role of culture in society, the ties betwee politics and art and more such topics.

[Minnie]

Oi! Don't anybody write easy English no more????!!!! Heavens to Betsy, one would think that in dealing with a complex matter the writers would attempt to simplify. Instead the fog index in this book reaches new levels of excellence. Yet I soldier on, ever hopeful of some enlightenment

[Raymond Li]

Spivak

[Wenjing]

SIMM 54, read the famous piece 'Can the subaltern speak?'.

[Yakut Akbay]

Professor Gayatri Spivak's essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak?', which is included in the book, offers a different perspective of the subaltern. Spivak questions Guha's categorization concerning the social classes of India in which the subaltern is seen as synonymous with the people. Spivak finds this taxonomy rather ambiguous. Further, she comes up with a gendered analysis of the subaltern considering the position of women in India. She illustrates this through 'sati', meaning widow sacrifice, who 'immolated herself upon the pyre of the dead husband'. This act supposedly showed her obedience. This rite was forbidden by the British and was interpreted as 'white men saving brown women from brown men'. Against this is the natives' argument 'women actually wanted to die.' Spivak exposes the fact that between these two male discourses there is no space from which the subaltern can raise her voice, which means the subaltern cannot speak.

[David]

Yet another reference. I haven't read enough in it to justify a 5-star rating.

[Sonja]

The five stars goes for Gayatri Spivak's famous essay, "Can the subaltern speak?" I have to read it again, more thoroughly.