The Spivak Reader - Contents - Introduction: Reading Spivak

Sep 21, 2026

The Spivak Reader is a curated collection of selected works by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, edited by Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean. The volume brings together essays and interviews addressing bonding in difference, explanation and culture, feminism and critical theory, Derrida’s Limited Inc., value, power/knowledge, echo, and subaltern studies through deconstructing historiography. It also includes guidance on teaching a “culturally different” book and contextual prefatory and afterword material connected to Mahasweta Devi’s Imaginary Maps, followed by a translator’s and editors’ section.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages345

Reading Time8 h 51 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction: Reading Spivak

Bonding in Difference: interview with Alfred Arteaga

Explanation and Culture: Marginalia

Feminism and Critical Theory

Revolutions That As Yet Have No Model: Derrida's "Limited Inc."

Scattered Speculations on the Question of Value

More on Power/Knowledge

Echo

Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography

How to Teach a "Culturally Different" Book

Translator's Preface and Afterword to Mahasweta Devi, Imaginary Maps

Subaltern Talk: Interview with the Editors

Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak: A Checklist of Publications

Index

THE S PAK READER EDITED BY DONNA LANDRY AND GERALD MACLEAN The Spivak Reader Selected Works ofGayatri Chakravorty Spivak Edited byDonna LandryandGerald MacLean Published in 1996 by Routledge 29 West 35th StreetNew York,NY 10001 Published in Great Britain byRoutledge 11 New Fetter LaneLondon EC4P 4EE Copyright ◎1996 by Routledge Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper. All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilized in anyform or by any electronic,mechanical or other means,now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording,or in any information storage or retrieval system,without permission in writing from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Spivak,Gayatri Chakravorty. The Spivak reader /edited by Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. Contents:Bonding in difference:interview with Alfred Arteaga—Explanation and culture:marginaia—Feminism and critical theory —Revolutions that as yet have no model:Derrida's Limited Inc.—Scattered speculations on the question of value —More onpower/knowledge —Echo—Subaltern studies:deconstructing historiography—How toteach a “culturally different"book —Translator's preface and afterword to MahaswetaDevi,Imaginary Maps—Subaltern talk,interview with editors. ISBN 0-415-91000-5(cl)—ISBN0-415-91001-3(pbk) 1.Culture.2.Social history.3.Feminist theory.4.Feminist criticism. 5.Feminism and literature.1.Landry,Donna.I.MacLean,Gerald M.I.Title. HM101.S7733 199595-22222306—dc20CIP CONTENTS- Introduction:Reading Spivak I ONE Bonding in Difference, interview with Alfred Arteaga(I993-94)I5 TWo Explanation and Culture:Marginalia(1979)29 THREE Feminism and Critical Theory(I985)53 FOUR Revolutions That As Yet Have No Model:Derrida's "Limited Inc."(I98o) 75 FIVE Scattered Speculations on the Question of Value(1985)I07 SIX More on Power/Knowledge(1992) I4I SEVEN Echo(I993)I75 EIGHT Subaltern Studies: Deconstructing Historiography(1985)203 NINEHow To Teach a "Culturally Different"Book(I99I)237 TENTranslator's Preface and Afterword toMahasweta Devi,Imaginary Maps(I994)267 ELEVENSubaltern Talk: Interview with the Editors(I993-94)287 TWELVEGayatri Chakravorty Spivak:A Checklist of Publications309Index323 # PERMISSIONS The author and editors gratefully acknowledge the permission ofthe journals and publishers that follow to reprint these essays intheir revised form:Duke University Press for“Bonding inDifference,"from Alfred Arteaga,ed.,An Other Tongue:Nationand Ethnicity in the Linguistic Borderland(1994),pp.273-85;Humanities in Society for“Explanation and Culture:Marginalia,”from 2:3(1979),pp.201-21;the University of Illinois Press for“Feminism andCritical Theory,"from Paula Treichler,Cheris Kramerae,and Beth Stafford,eds.,For Alma Mater:Theory and Practice in Feminist Scholarship(1985),pp.119-42;Diacritics:A Review of Contemporary Criticism for"Revolutions That As Yet Have No Model:Derrida's 'Limited Inc.,”"from 10:4(1980),pp.29-49,and“Scattered Speculations on the Question ofValue,"from 15:4(1985),pp.73-93;State University of New York(SUNY)Press,Albany,for“More on Power/Knowledge,”from Thomas E.Wartenberg,ed.,Rethinking Power(1992),pp.149-73;New LiteraryHistory for "Echo,"from 24:1(1993),pp.17-43;Oxford University Press,New Delhi,for "Subaltern Studies:Deconstructing Historiography,"fromRanajit Guha,ed.,Subaltern Studies IV:Writings on South Asian Historyand Society(1985),pp.330-63;Manchester University Press for“How toTeach a 'Culturally Different'Book,"from Francis Barker,Peter Hulme,and Margaret Iverson,eds.,Colonial Discourse/Postcolonial Theory(1994),pp.126-50. ACKNOALEDGMENTS The editors would like to thank Bill Germano for his insistence andEric Zinner for his assistance.The Office of the Dean for GraduateResearch at Wayne State University provided funds for

FAQs

What does The Spivak Reader focus on?

It assembles selected essays and interviews exploring themes such as feminism and critical theory, power/knowledge, value, and subaltern studies.

Who edited the book, and whose works are included?

Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean edited the collection of selected works by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak.

What major sections are included besides the main essays?

The contents list include an introduction, interviews, a translator’s preface and afterword related to Mahasweta Devi’s Imaginary Maps, plus a checklist of publications and an index.

Sep 21, 2026

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