Postcolonialism and the deconstructive scenario: representing Gayatri Spivak

The reputed 'difficulty' of the texts of Gayatri Spivak poses an obstacle t o potentially productive reflection on, and debate surrounding, her critica l positions and analyses. Motivated by the attempt to address this situatio n, I offer this discussion as an exegetical account of some of Spivak's pri nciple categories and arguments. I demonstrate how certain themes, such as the aporia, catachresis, subalternity, and the relationship between the nar row and the general, function in Spivak's work as signposts en route to her formulation of postcolonialism as a deconstructive scenario. Crucial to th is formulation is a type of political economy of intellectual production an d academic work and the situating of the latter with respect to the interna tional division of labour, informed by a Marxian critique of capital and, i n particular, Marx's concept of value. Spivak demonstrates, via Marx, that an economic logic underwrites the practice of representation, in general, a nd, hence, all intellectual and academic work, in particular. Ironically, S pivak's idiosyncrasy with respect to the mobilisation of Marx in her work, and one of the reasons for her perceived difficulty, lies in the unexpected ness of her orthodoxy.