Gayatri Spivak

• the critic uses the term SUBALTERN

  • subaltern = marginalized groups that are excluded from the heirarchy of power, especially in a post-colonial context
• EPISTEMIC VIOLENCE

  • refers to the way colonial powers impose their own knowledge systems on colonized peoples, erasing their voices and tendencies
• CHALLENGES TO REPRESENTATION

  • the critic argues that it's very difficult for the subaltern to speak within dominant frameworks
  • this is because their voices are often mediated and distorted by those that are in power