Sofia Costales

COM531M

Mr. Elvin Valerio

4 October 2017

Analyzing the Subaltern: An invisible strikethrough

“Since the word is inaccurate, it is crossed out. Since it is necessary, it is left eligible.”
– Martin Heidegger, in a letter to Ernst Junger, 1956.

The term “under erasure”, or sous rature in French, is what we recognize in today’s

typography as a strikethrough – the crossing out of a word within a text, yet allowing it to remain

legible and in place. Words continue to exist, often readable yet understood as a mistake and not

intended to be part of the “whole” body of text. This was developed by Martin Heidegger as a

philosophical device which constitutes an afterthought wherein “the ordinary difference traced in this

act contradicts the origin even as it signifies it” (qtd. in Reddan, 285).

In Gayatri Spivak’s exceptionally written essay, Can The Subaltern Speak?, we are

familiarized with the involvement of the “West” during its post-colonial period as well as the

contrasting notions between Subject vs. Other, with “subjects” being the more dominant nations and

“others” being the Non-Westerners, the weaker class (aka the “oppressed”). The term subaltern,

according to Spivak in one of her speeches, is a position without identity. In the dictionary, it is an

officer below the rank of a captain or of a lower military status. Captain Dilip Shekhar, an Indian

officer interviewed on BBC’s Empire Episode, shares that soldiers are unable to distinguish whose

region he is fighting for. 2nd Lieutenants, soldiers in the lowest of ranks, are common examples of a

subaltern group whereas they are controlled by their upper class. To answer Spivak’s question, we can

agree that subalterns can speak: only in the position to follow orders and comply. Any subjective

response to a command from a higher position will be deemed nonessential. Thus, subalterns are

simply equivalent to the “strikethroughs” in society.

Europeans first used the term “Western” to demographically distinguish themselves from

Asia, known as the “Orient”. Countries from the West such as Great Britain, the United States, and

France all wanted to gain economic interests from “other” nations. It is revealed that certain varieties

of the Indian elite are at best native informants for first-world intellectuals interested in the voice of

the Other (Spivak, 25). In the French Revolution, the Bourgeoisie can only take power if the people –

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the masses – are right behind them. As a literary theorist, Spivak enlightens us about the levels of

social groups in India and how they react to being colonized by the British Empire. The “Subaltern

Studies” group is one way to analyze the varying elements and conditions of social classes being

dominated by Western authorities during the post-colonial period.

One certain group that brought to my attention was the regional elite-subaltern which sprung

from the so-called “floating buffer zones”. Conceivably, these are elite Indians who were given

beneficial agreements during the British rule (eg., Indian princes were sent to British schools) and

soon established interdependence with the first-world. Elite Indians believed that they are in control,

not knowing about their Western influence. The author basically raises: what about the total (Indian)

population, and what could determine the voice of these subordinate groups? With the help of the

Subaltern Studies project and Spivak’s feminist criticism, we can reflect on the status of Indian

women, particularly Sati women, under the British colonial rule (Louai, 7). These women were forced

to participate in such rituals which lose their free will, representing the loss of their voices.

With Marxism used as a critical lens to frame the association of post-colonialism with the

Western control and exploitation, it is evident here that those who are weak will be overpowered by

those who have the ability and power to do so. A perfect example to illustrate Spivak’s essay would be

Disney’s 33rd animated film, Pocahontas, where the lead character of Native American descent

encounters an Englishman named John Smith during the height of conflict between the English

settlers and the indigenous Americas (Reese, 2014). The Indian maiden is obligated to marry one of

the tribes’ toughest men, yet she desires not to do so as she falls in love with another, who is

considered “foreign” to their culture. Pocahontas, considered as one of the elites, cannot fully express

herself on what she truly wants and therefore loses her “voice”. However, the film does not fully

express her life accurately. In Ancient Origins, Matoaka (the birth name of Pocahontas) was only a

10-year-old child who often visited the settlement at Jamestown to help the settlers when food was

scarce. After being held hostage for a year, an English tobacco planter named John Rolfe conditioned

her release upon his interest and her agreement to marry him. She was then renamed Rebecca, which

recorded the very first marriage between two races: a European and Native American. After quite

some time, John Rolfe used Rebecca as a form of propaganda campaign to support the Virginia

colonies, making her a symbol of peace to both groups.

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 Spivak’s essay teaches us to be aware of our subaltern consciousness and social tendencies.

The Pocahontas example is one way to help us see how native cultures disappear because of Western

colonization, and how the state is being constantly reconfigured up to this day. Perhaps what is

important is that we should be able to understand the different historical changes tied with proper

research, as well as acknowledge the fact that any powerful, ruling class can always draw a

strikethrough – to take advantage, and make the visible unseen.

On Ritzer’s theory: Should we agree with McDonaldization?

McDonald’s, famous for its whopping Big Mac burgers, has dominated and won over the fast-

food chain industry. The idea of having a quick, cheap and efficient mode of eating food makes it very

easy for busy people to consume in very systematic and predictable ways. As of January 2015,

McDonald’s has more than 36,000 restaurants serving approximately 69 million people every day

(Rosenberg). George Ritzer’s concept in The McDonaldization of Society suggests that everything is

rationalized – thus appeals to important aspects of convenience and affordability. However, not

everyone will be inclined to agree with this theory.

According to one postmodern theorist, “Ritzer underplays the ways that McDonald’s is an

ideological and cultural phenomenon, as well as an economic and sociological set of practices…” and

“does not really engage the specifically cultural dimension of the operation” (Kellner, 186). This

concept is not a new phenomenon. Its aspects are just as inherent to capitalism. Because of

competition growth and company expansion (the only ways to survive under capitalism), a company

will seek to be as efficient and reliable as possible. Good examples are today’s famous ride-sharing

applications, Grab and Uber. With total effectiveness, social control and automatization slowly rise

up. These are direct results of market competition, and as consequence of capitalism, the subaltern

became a construct. When our Western fellowmen introduced capitalism, economic challenges

emerged and new social classes were created, and at the same time brought “rationalization as an

increasingly powerful impact in many other parts of the world” (Ritzer, 371).

Although Ritzer’s theory has its flaws, it certainly has very good points of view to consider.

He mentions that while fast-food restaurants are not ultimate expressions of rationality, he perceives it

as the current model for future developments (“Part V: Social Change”, 372). With technology as an

edge to society’s current lifestyles, there is no doubt that people may experience the automated,

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robotic effect taking place in all types of sectors as well as on workers and employees. Everything is

now standardized and modified to produce a more comfortable way of living and an easier domain for

consumers. Trends coming from McDonald’s include delivery apps and now even with self-service

tellers available in Hong Kong, Japan, and soon, world-wide. Ritzer also explains that because of

tools, machines, and rules which dictate worker behavior, people now feel disconnected as ever

(“Substitution of Nonhuman Technology”, 376). To relate this to the subaltern proposition, replacing

human technology will continue to blind us. We should accept the fact that there will always be

negative effects above positive outcomes. Artificial intelligence are now becoming a thing, and these

things have replaced and dehumanized us more and more as we are being overly attached to it.

Machines are now the new versions of the Bourgeoisie – they are here, and they have already

overpowered us in today’s generation, the same way when the West colonized and settled native,

uncultured lands. How can we avoid this ignorance? We will just have to wait and see.

List of Works Cited:

Reddan, Marion. “Mysticism and being.” Heidegger and the mystery of being, 2009, p. 285.,

ro.uow.edu.au/theses/825.

Spivak, Gayatri Chakravorty. “Can the Subaltern Speak?” Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture: London, 

Macmillan, Jan. 1988, pp. 24–28., doi: 10.1007/978-1-349-190-59-1_20.

Louai, El Habib. “Retracing the concept of the subaltern from Gramsci to Spivak: Historical developments and new 

applications.” African Journal of History and Culture, vol. 4, no. 1, Jan. 2012, pp. 4–8., doi: 10.5897/
AJHC11.020.

Reese, M R. “The True Story of Pocahontas as NOT told by Disney.” Ancient Origins: 

Reconstructing the story of humanity’s past, Novus Web Solutions, 3 Nov. 2014, 

www.ancient-origins.net/history-famous-people/true-story-pocahontas-not-told-disney-002285. 

Web. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.

“How the British managed to rule India.” YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7GOh8qlLwQ&t=195s. 4 


Oct. 2015. Web. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.

“Gayatri Spivak: The Trajectory of the Subaltern in My Work.” YouTube. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZHH4ALRFHw&t=3730s. 8 Feb. 2008. Web. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.

Ritzer, George. “The “McDonaldization” of Society.” VISIONS OF SOCIETY: The Bureaucratization


of Society, June 2004, pp. 371–379. ResearchGate.net, doi: 10.1111/J.1542-734X.0601_100.x.

Kellner, Douglas. “Theorizing/Resisting McDonaldization: A Multiperspectivist Approach.” Resisting

McDonaldization, pp. 186–206., doi: 10.4135/9781446217627.n12.

Rosenberg, Matt. “How Many McDonald’s Restaurants Operate Worldwide?” ThoughtCo,

www.thoughtco.com/number-of-mcdonalds-restaurants-worldwide-1435174. Accessed 2 Oct. 2017.

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