The limits of post structuralism

It all started with a simple question- what is post structuralism. Not being able to resist showing off I gave a long twisted answer. I have sat in lectures listening to post structuralists, I still don’t know what it is about or how it is applied. I understand the basics however most of it eludes me. A case in point is writing by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak whose writing no doubt has several important points but remains inaccessible. While I know this is deliberate attempt to open up the text to interpretations it does not make it accessible. Spivak’s arguments are important for black feminists yet alienating to those trying to understand it. For years I have struggled to read ‘Can the Subaltern Speak?’ For years I have pondered over paragraphs and sentences unsure who the text is for. I claim the same subaltern status Spivak does as woman of colour, I am written about as a helpless woman in need of rescuing. As an academic like Spivak I am privileged in one sense, yet as an early career academic of colour I have little or no visibility or voice. 

Can I as a subaltern then speak? No. Can I as a subaltern access the tools for my liberation? No. Can I as a privileged academic make space for other non-privileged women and men? Yes I can, in fact it is my duty to make my work accessible. Following in the footsteps of black feminist writes such as Audre Lorde and bell hooks I feel writing should be made accessible.

Post structuralism is deliberate in its obscurity, the reader has to construct and deconstruct the text which will be open to several interpretations. It delights in being difficult. To me this is an expression of privilege. This writing if vital to the subaltern should be accessible to the subaltern, yet it hides behind erudition. To quote Audre Lorde ‘the masters tools will never dismantle the masters house’. Inaccessible writing does not and will not reach the people who need it most. Academia in most parts of the world is an elite enterprise, hidden behind exorbitant tuition fee, and limited by the identity of scholar. Deconstruction while a clever philosophical stance does not lend itself to accessibility. Spivak like several other post structuralists is well educated in some of the finest institutions of the world. While she lacks privilege as a woman of colour she makes up for in education and position.

Post structuralism is preserve of those in higher education. Black feminism on the other hand takes difficult concepts transcribing it into simple and accessible writing, loosing none its integrity. It encourages activism and liberation.

PS: Here is a link to Post Structuralism explained using hipster beards