Silencing of the Neo-Subaltern Voice: Historiography of the ‘Oppressed’

Abstract

In conjunction with the modern ideas of neocolonialism and neo-imperialism, the present world is witnessing the occurrence of a relatively new and persistent state of neo-subalternity under which the men and women of the third-world countries and their diasporic communities are forced to live a life under socio-political duress. The present study concerns with the development of this state of affairs and has sought to locate the theoretical explanation of this phenomenon. It has been found that the neo-subaltern identifier can most aptly be attributed to the women of these effected postcolonial communities at home or scattered around the globe. They are subjected to the conditions of foreign coloniality as well as local patriarchal hierarchy. Most recent examples of this bias are witnessed among the diasporic communities in the western cosmopolitans where the post 9/11nationalist sensibility, in reaction to an alleged religious terrorism, has given rise to a set of prejudiced policies and compulsive social behaviors that are against these subalterns’ rightful interests. Among these diaspora communities, the Muslim women’s symbols of modesty are especially portrayed with prejudice and a malevolent preconception. Under neocolonial and patriarchal control, these sunaltern women live as ‘slaves of the slaves’ in the Marxist sense of the word. The present study has sought to locate these paradigms of power at the subaltern theoretical level.