The Politization of Deconstruction in Gayatri Spivak

Abstract

This paper evaluates an important theoretical elaboration on the wake of deconstruction, that of Gaytri Spivak’s characterization of subalternity, especially as it was articulated in her 1999 Critique of Post-Colonial Reason. The essay begins with short observations on the relevance of theoretical discourse for the representation of the excluded, in order then to approach the question of the narrativization of the subaltern herself. In its third part, the text criticizes Spivak’s interpretative and argumentative strategies, mainly claiming that in her case there is a disappearance not only of the work, but of the object itself. The paper ends with considerations on the consequences of such disappearance, indicating that the representation of the excluded, for all its thematization (or precisely because of it), is more problematical than ever. Keywords: Exclusion. Theory. Gayatri Spivak. Subalternity. Deconstruction.