Here, you can see the perspectives and some interesting examples of subaltern theory.

1. Prepare by
Tamsa pandya
M.A sem -1

2. FROM THE LATIN ROOTS: sub-
("below"), alternus ("all others")
SUBALTERN MEANCE
EFFEMINATE
DESULTORY
CELIBATE
JUNIOR
PETTY

3. “Subaltern”, meaning “of inferior rank”, is a
term adopted by Antonio Gramsci to refer
to those working class people in Soviet
Union . Gramsci claimed that the history of
the subaltern classes was just as complex
as the history of the dominant classes,
although the history of the latter is that
which is accepted as the “official” history.

4. •ANTONIO GRAMSCI • GAYTRI SIPIVAK SAYS
 The subaltern is a technical
term for a certain kind of
dispossessed person. It is a
person who fits within the
model of the
Oppressor/Oppressed as the
being so marginalized as to not
even have the ‘voice’ of the
oppressed. So, symbolically,
we might say that the colonizer
is Self, the colonized is Other,
and all of those who are
invisible to both Self and Other
are the subaltern.

5.  The Subaltern perspective stands for understanding
the society through conditions of subordination of
people belonging to the different ,
 Caste
 Class
 Age
 Gender
 Race
It seeks to present an alternate image of society through
the viewpoint of the masses usually unrepresented. It
seeks to restore a balance by highlighting the role of
the masses as against the elites in political and social
movements .

6. The concept of the “subaltern”
gained increased prominence and
currency with Gayatri Spivak’s Can
the Subaltern Speak? (1985)
which was a commentary on the
work of the Subaltern Studies
Group, questioning and exposing
their patronizing attitude., Spivak
adapts Derridean deconstructive
techniques to point out the
different forms of subject
formations and “othering.” Much of
Spivak’s ideas are informed by her
interactions with ‘the Subaltern
Studies Group, including Ranajit
Guha and Dipesh Chakrabarty.

7.  Spivak suggests that it is impossible to recover
the voice of the subaltern, hinting at the
unimaginable extent of colonial repression and its
historical intersection with patriarchy — which she
illustrates with particular reference to colonial
debates on widow immolation in India. As
observed by scholars like Lata Mani, in the colonial
discussions on the practice of Sati, the Indian
widow is absent as a subject and that the subject
is denied a space to speak . She suggests that
elite native men have found a way to “speak”, but
for those, .further down the hierarchy, self
representation is almost impossible.

8.  According to Varghese (2009),
subalternity became a superseding
idea in
literature (see also Simon and Varghese,
2010). Inspired by the social trend of
subalternists, literary writers turned their
writings towards activism (Varghese,
2009). To uplift the suppressed voices of
society, they started to produce
literature
from a subaltern perspective. Thus
subaltern literature became famous in
South
Asia, specifically in India and Bengal
(Armstrong, 2010) and in North Africa
and
other places

9.  Toni Morrison (1931-) and Alice Walker (1944-)
seem to voice Afro-
 American subalterns. Morrison’s The Bluest Eye
(1970) portrays the hegemony
 of blue eyes, a symbol of color based oppression.
Her Sula (1973) and Tar Baby
 (1981) also revolve around the themes of color and
gendered subalternity (Firoz,
 2006). Walker in The Color Purple (1982) breaks
apart the subalternity of Celie
 by enlightening her inner self through the love of
Shug Avery and Nettie

10. Toni Morrison (1931-) and Alice Walker
(1944-) seem to voice Afro-
American subalterns. Morrison’s The
Bluest Eye (1970) portrays the
hegemony
of blue eyes, a symbol of color based
oppression. Her Sula (1973) and Tar
Baby
(1981) also revolve around the themes of
color and gendered subalternity (Firoz,
2006). Walker in The Color Purple (1982)
breaks apart the subalternity of Celie
by enlightening her inner self through the
love of Shug Avery and Nettie

11. The voice of the Indian downtrodden, or subalterns, Mulk Raj Anand (19052004)
unfolded the class based, caste bound and gendered subalternity of Indian
subalterns including women, children and workers. His Untouchable (1935)
represents the clash between Brahmins, upper class lords, and Shudras, lower class
beasts. There in Anand creates the fictional character of Mahatma Gandhi, the
representative of the true Indian freedom fighter, viz. Gandhi ji, to strengthen lower
class Bakha and Sohni. Further, in Coolie (1936) Anand breaks the caste-based
subalternity of Munno, a very poor and suppressed 14 years old boy. In Two leaves
and a Bud (1937), he portrays class, colour and gendered subalternity and unveils
the cruel face of a white master, Buta. Arundhati Roy, a political activist and a current
feminist Indian authoress, also portrays gender and caste bound subalternity in her
writings. In God of Small Things (1997), she gives voice to voiceless Dalit and
gendered subalterns namely Ammu, Ayentha.