Browsing by Author "Mader, Allison"

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    Hearing the spivakian subaltern speak in the works of Kamila Shamsie
    (2009) Mader, Allison; Joseph, Clara
    This project examines the role of the Spivakian subaltern within the works of Kamila Shamsie and argues that in writing strategies of resistance that include but do not speak for subaltern women, Shams1e utilizes a fictional environment to illuminate potential methods of bridging the gap between privileged and subaltern communities. My purpose is not to disprove or discredit Spivak's theories; rather, my objective is to identify and examine closely where her theory comes from, how she has shaped it, and, most importantly, where we might take it. It is important not only to locate Spivak's work among that of other influential and foundational postcolonial theorists-particularly Frantz Fanon, Edward Said, and Homi K. Bhabha-but it is also useful to continue to probe Spivak's own theory of the subaltern, which has, in a way, become itself canonized. In my thesis, I examine Spivak's concept of the subaltern and how it has both evolved and stagnated over time. Ultimately, I argue that in order to remain relevant and useful, subaltern theory must tum to recent works of creative fiction and the resistant strategies posed therein. In my thesis, I use three of Kamila Shamsie' s texts-In the City by the Sea, Salt and Saffron, and Kartography to illustrate how, with careful attention to Spivak' s theoretical concept, as well as economics and global politics, creative fiction can be read to find useful and effective strategies of resistance.
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    The Importance of Reading Said: Orientalism, Women, and Postcolonial Literature After 9/11
    (2017) Mader, Allison; Joseph, Clara; Kertzer, Jon; Xie, Shaobo; ten Kortenaar, Neil; Schmidt, Rachel
    Edward Said’s work, particularly Orientalism (1978), has fallen out of fashion after a number of criticisms aimed at its representation of history, its perceived reliance on (and potential entrenchment of) stark binaries, and its lack of attention to resistant cultural productions, as well as a more general reassessment of the utility and value of postcolonial studies. Yet never has his work seemed more urgent or suited to the cultural moment. Political and cultural discourse after 9/11 spawned a renewal of Orientalist depictions of Muslim societies and, in particular, women. This dissertation argues that postcolonial novelists have engaged with these narratives in a variety of ways: feeding into established narratives and fears and lending them additional credence as “cultural informants”; exploding false binaries and spotlighting the link between colonialism and globalization; and complicating the pervasive representation of 9/11 as a contained narrative. It finds examples of these approaches in Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), Kiran Desai’s The Inheritance of Loss (2006), and Kamila Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows (2009) and suggests that each novel engages differently with the post-9/11 figure of the Muslim Other and/or the language of Orientalism that continues to circulate. This dissertation contends that the global, political, and cultural events of the last fifteen years call for a regeneration of postcolonial studies and a reinvestment in Said’s work. Orientalism did not end with the dissolution of the age of Empire, and it is incumbent upon postcolonial scholars to draw attention to and dismantle it in its many contemporary forms. This dissertation aims to participate in this undertaking.