Subaltern (postcolonialism)

High school (ages 12+)
People & Society

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/subaltern-postcolonialism

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the theoretical originator?Antonio Gramsci, Italian Marxist philosopher and politician
2. What is the key scholarly development?The Subaltern Studies Group, primarily focused on South Asian historiography
3. What does "subaltern" mean in postcolonial studies?It means people who were left out of the main power groups during colonial times and whose voices were often ignored.
4. Who first talked about the subaltern and why?Antonio Gramsci, in his prison notebooks, explained how the powerful make their ideas normal and keep other voices quiet.

Postcolonialism: An academic field studying the cultural, political, and economic legacies of colonialism.
Cultural Hegemony: The dominance of a ruling class's ideology, making it seem like common sense.
Agency: The capacity of individuals or groups to act independently and make their own choices.
Historiography: The study of the writing of history and how historical accounts are produced.