-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Franci Mangraviti
From the Introduction: "Dorothea Olkowski’s chapter offers an analysis of the need to develop a logic of sense. Drawing on the work of Gilles Deleuze, Olkowski defends formal logic against feminist theorists who have urged that we organize thinking around the principles of embodiment. She warns us against the complete merging of bodily functions and sense-making activities. In Olkowski’s view, feminists need to acknowledge the usefulness of logical analyses at the same time that they must insist on formal systems that reflect and are tempered by human and humane values."
Comment: available in this Blueprint
-
Expand entry
-
Added by: Zoé Grange-MarczakAbstract:
In this talk given in 1983 at the University of Illinois, Spivak criticizes a Western understanding of the political subject by examining how Third World subjects are perceived within Western discourse. She studies the way Western representations prevent the subaltern woman from making her own voice heard. Her critique depends on a definition of the subaltern, the “Other,” who is paradoxically both constituted and erased by Western theories, and is neither heard nor answered, leading Spivak to question their very possibility to speak. She specifically uses the history of British colonialism's relation to the Hindu practice of sati, the ritual self-immolation of a widow on her husband’s funeral pyre, which was read by the British as barbarism and deprived of the social signification it holds. Spivak highlights the contradictions of the so-called “civilizing mission” of colonialism, showing how women’s rights have been used by colonialism against the subalterns themselves, thereby robbing them of their own voices. Drawing critically on French theory (Derrida, Althusser, Deleuze, Foucault), Marxism (Marx, Benjamin, Gramsci) and other postcolonial scholars (Said), this landmark essay mobilizes historical documentation alongside critical theory to produce a seminal work of political and social philosophy. At the same time, Spivak offers a meta-philosophical enquiry, pointing to a major bias in the very constitution and discourse of the discipline.Comment: The large amount of references, along with the elaborate critique, makes this essay rather difficult and subtle. However, in addition to its great depth and sophistication, it is historically one of the foundational essay for postcolonial theory, with which it engages critically. A starting point for debates around multiculturalism and feminism, it also is a pivotal work for Subaltern Studies, and a good way to link 20th century French and American philosophy with its non-Western comments and renewals. Suitable for advanced students or further readings for a class on postcolonialism or continental philosophy.