To Speak about the Unspeakable: Marginalized Position of Class, Community and Gender

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The perception and description of experience as ‘marginal’ is a consequence of the binaristic structure of various kinds of dominant discourse such as patriarchy, imperialism and ethnocentrism which imply that certain forms of experience are peripheral. Although the term carries a misleading geometric implication, marginal groups do not necessarily endorse the notion of a fixed center. Structures of power are described in reality, in a complex, diffuse and multifaceted way. However marginality as a noun is related to the verb ‘to marginalize’ and in this sense provides a trap for those involved in resistance by its assumption that power is a function of centrality. This mean that such resistance can become a process of replacing the center rather than deconstructing the binary structure of center and margin which is a primary feature of post-colonial discourse. Marginality unintentionally reifies centrality because it is the centre that creates the condition of marginality. Spivak suggests that the appropriation of the marginalized as part of postcolonial studies and Western academies relegates them to perpetual marginality. The distinction between centre and margin is retained, even more strengthened by the “third worldism” of postcolonial studies. Subaltern studies in India first arose in the postcolonial era where scholars sought to challenge the historical narratives which glorified the Western Civilizations and left little agency for Indians. Hence, the main theme of the school was resistance to oppressive systems. Taking inspiration from Marxist like Gramsci and Eric Hobshawn, academicians like Foucault (ideas on power relations) the subaltern received constant renewals in its definitions and implications. In Can the Subalt... ... middle of paper ... ...ure, Oxford University Press, 2011 Print. • Mautner T. – Dictionary of Philosophy, Penguin Books, 2nd ed. 2010 Print. • Dangarembga T.—Nervous Conditions, Ayebia Clarke Publishing, 2004 Print. • Glover D., Kaplan C.—Genders, Routledge the New Critical Idiom, 2nd ed.2013 print. • Bradley H. - Gender, Key concepts, Polity Press, 2007 Print. • Nayar P.K. - Postcolonial Literature, An Introduction Pearson, 2008 Print. • Pandurang M., Bartels A. – African Women Novelists, Re- Imaging Gender, Pencraft International, New Delhi, 2010 Print. • Al-wazedi N. - Hearing ‘Subaltern’ voices of resistance in works of Taslima Nasrin and Monica Ali, Ann Arbor International, 2008 Print. • Gandhi L. - Postcolonial Theory, A Critical Introduction, Oxford University Press, 2012 Print. • Ashcroft B., Griffiths G., Tiffin H. - Post-colonial studies, The Key Concepts, Routledge, 2009 Print.

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