Stephen MORTON
Gayatri Spivak. Ethics, Subalternity and the Critique of the Postcolonial Reason
Polity Books ("Key Contemporary Thinker"), Cambridge
2007, 224 p.
ISBN : 9780745632841
Description :
Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's seminal contribution to contemporary thought defies disciplinary boundaries. From her early translations of Derrida to her subsequent engagement with Marxism, feminism and postcolonial studies and her recent work on human rights, the war on terror and globalization, she has proved to be one of the most vital of present-day thinkers. In this book Stephen Morton offers a wide-ranging introduction to and critique of Spivak's work. He examines her engagements with philosophers and other thinkers from Kant to Paul de Man, feminists from Cixous to Helie-Lucas and literary texts by Charlotte Bronte, J. M. Coetzee, Mahasweta Devi and Jean Rhys. Spivak's thought is also situated in relation to subaltern studies. Throughout the book, Morton interrogates the materialist basis of Spivak's thought and demonstrates the ethical and political commitment which lies at the heart of her work. Stephen Morton provides an ideal introduction to the work of this complex and increasingly important thinker.