Essay on subaltern studies
Subaltern theory pdf
Table of Contents. Rather, a productive form of critical intimacy best describes how the limitations and opportunities of both strands of thought could contribute and interrupt each other. The intellectual reach of Subaltern Studies now also exceeds that of the discipline of history. It now refers to any person or group of inferior rank or station, whether because of race , class , gender , sexual orientation , ethnicity , or religion. It should be clarified, however, that my concentration here on the relationship between postcolonialism and historiography overlooks the contributions that other disciplines—political science, legal studies, anthropology, literature, cultural studies, and economics—have made to the field of subaltern studies. Definition[ edit ] The term " subaltern " in this context is an allusion to the work of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci — The problematic question of subaltern identity, and the complex processes of political transformation involved in the transition from colonialism to nationalism, thus emerge less as points of fundamental divergence between Subaltern Studies and Marx. Guha, Ranajit.According to Chibber, subaltern scholars tend to recreate the Orient as a place where cultural differences negate analyses based on western experience.
Guha and eight younger scholars based in India, the United Kingdom, and Australia constituted the editorial collective of Subaltern Studies untilwhen Guha retired from the team. References Chatterjee, Partha. Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm, and a host of others. Prakash, Gyan.
Subaltern studies pdf
Without wishing either to inflate the claims of Subaltern Studies scholars or to deny what they may have indeed learned from the British Marxist historians, I seek to show that this reading of Subaltern Studies—as an instance of Indian or Third World historians merely catching up with or simply applying the methodological insights of Definition[ edit ] The term " subaltern " in this context is an allusion to the work of Italian Marxist Antonio Gramsci — Gramsci, Antonio. Criticism[ edit ] One of the group's early contributors, Sumit Sarkar , later began to critique it. He entitled one of his essays "Decline of the Subaltern in Subaltern Studies", criticizing the turn to Foucauldian studies of power-knowledge that left behind many of the empiricist and Marxist efforts of the first two volumes of Subaltern Studies. Thompson, Eric Hobsbawm, and a host of others. Thus read more generously and with nuance, Subaltern Studies could be seen as having a relation of critical intimacy with Marxist thought rather than an outright rejection of all of its analyses. Rather, a productive form of critical intimacy best describes how the limitations and opportunities of both strands of thought could contribute and interrupt each other.Access options available:. Two aspects of the relation between Marx and the Subaltern Studies group can be identified here. Although they are, in a sense, on the leftthey are very critical of the traditional Marxist narrative of Indian history, in which semi- feudal India was colonized by the Britishbecame politicized, and earned its independence.
People associated with Subaltern Studies[ edit ] Scholars associated with Subaltern Studies include:.
Instead, they focus on non-elites — subalterns — as agents of political and social change. He writes that the socialist inspiration behind the early volumes led to a greater impact in India itself, while the later volumes' focus on western discourse reified the subaltern-colonizer divide and then rose in prominence mainly in western academia.
Subaltern studies journal
At the same time, there have also been discussions of Subaltern Studies in many history and social science journals. First, the explanations of historical transformation from colonialism to the nation-state; and second, the peculiar form of identity of the subaltern classes who are defined in opposition to the colonial and national elites. However, they also included in their interventions a corresponding critique of Marxist analyses of the transition to nationalism. The place of Antonio Gramsci is crucial here, in particular his writings on Italian history during the complex political processes which constituted the Risorgimento Gramsci Much discussed, for instance, are the ways in which contributors to Subaltern Studies have participated in contemporary critiques of history and nationalism, and of orientalism and Eurocentrism in the construction of social science knowledge. Although they are, in a sense, on the left , they are very critical of the traditional Marxist narrative of Indian history, in which semi- feudal India was colonized by the British , became politicized, and earned its independence. Chaudhury, Ajit K. Prakash, Gyan. New York: International Publishers.The term's semantic range has evolved from its first usage by Ranajit Guhafollowing Gramsci, to refer solely to peasants who had not been integrated into the industrial capitalist system.