Abstract

SPIVAK, Gayatri Chakravorty; ROONEY, Ellen  and  TUNON, Soledad. In a Word. Interview. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak with Ellen Rooney.Translated bySoledad Tuñón. rev.estud.soc. [online]. 2024, n.88, pp.101-128.  Epub Apr 12, 2024. ISSN 0123-885X.  https://doi.org/10.7440/res88.2024.06.

In this interview, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak revisits the debate between essentialism and anti-essentialism by reconsidering various theoretical frameworks she has engaged with over her intellectual journey. These frameworks include deconstruction, Marxism, and feminisms, alongside reflections on the role of philosophy. One key focus of her reflection is the concept of strategic essentialism in understanding social movements, diverging from her previous stances. Spivak suggests viewing it as an ongoing critique of essentialist approaches, emphasizing the importance of maintaining critical, strategic, and indispensable elements within a minimalizable essence. She also stresses the significance of authorial positioning and autobiographical narratives, drawing on childhood lessons. She explores teaching as a practice that can convey the impossibility of fixed essences rather than engaging in theoretical debates. She examines her own place within the Subaltern Studies Group and the political connotations of the “Third World.” Towards the end, she delves into the practical perspective on essences concerning empirical realities and the dynamic between researchers and their audiences.

Keywords : deconstruction; feminism; Marxism; postcoloniality; strategic essentialism.

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