Subaltern Studies

Can the Subaltern Speak?

This foundational text of postcolonial feminist theory questions the possibility of Western intellectuals representing the oppressed. Through analyzing colonial discourse on Indian widow immolation (sati), Spivak reveals the imperialist logic of 'white men saving brown women from brown men,' arguing that subaltern women are structurally silenced under the dual oppression of colonialism and patriarchy.