Born As Subaltern or To Become Subaltern: An Exploration of Subalternity in Dana Johnson’s Because That’s Just Easier

Alireza Sardari

doi:10.24843/jh.2022.v26.i01.p01

Abstract

The possibility to become subaltern in social relationships is an important issue in postcolonial studies. This article aims to investigate the representations of subalternity, and the characters’ reactions for being portrayed as subaltern in Dana Johnson’s story Because That’s Just Easier (2016). Spivak’s concept of subaltern will be consulted. Through the analysis process, I will introduce a process which I call ‘Normalization of Subalternity’ that spotlights the issue of subalternity in human relationships. The results indicate that subalternity is a social-cultural construct, not an overnight phenomenon. Two characters, that is, the man lying on the side walk and the six-year-old girl (Dakota) have both become subaltern because their suffering is the subject of others’ getting-used-to. The results also show that Dakota is expected and accepted to be vulnerable, but she deconstructs this mentality and rejects subalternity. She critiques her parents (and others alike) for getting used to the suffering of humanity.

Highlights

Just as human relationship is a fact, so is the possibility of becoming subaltern in these relationships
In an interview with Natashia Deón, Jonson comments, “I reject the idea that as a black woman, I‟m relegated to writing black woman exclusively
Postcolonial theory is inherently political, social and cultural that focuses on issues such as race, otherness, power relations, and marginality in society

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Just as human relationship is a fact, so is the possibility of becoming subaltern in these relationships. The inequalities in human relations that result from binary oppositions such as man/woman, adult/child, male/female, etc., turn the subalternity _from possibility_ into actuality. Dana Johnson, born in 1967 in Los Angeles is an American writer and Associate Professor of English at the University of Southern California. Because That’s Just Easier is a short story in the collection In the Not Quite Dark: Stories (2016) It is about Frida and her husband Jackson, and their sixyear old daughter Dakota. Jackson criticizes Frida for too much babying their daughter He believes that they should go outside and enjoy walking on the streets like others. „Bubs, you need to be a big girl about this‟” (Johnson, 2016: 75) Returning to their home, they pass by a man who is lying in the middle of the sidewalk. The following questions will be answered: First, what is the representation of Subalternity? Second, how the character(s) react for being portrayed as subaltern?

METHOD AND THEORY

AND DISCUSSION