Hearing the spivakian subaltern speak in the works of Kamila Shamsie
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2009
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Abstract
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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Bibliography: p. 147-150
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Citation
Mader, A. (2009). Hearing the spivakian subaltern speak in the works of Kamila Shamsie (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/3152