Date of Award
2010
Document Type
Thesis
Publication Status
Version of Record
Submission Date
October 2026
Abstract
Can the subaltern really speak? Invoking Gayatri Spivak's post-colonial theory on the subaltern, this study aims to highlight the necessary, yet problematic relationship between intellectuals and the marginalized groups they seek to represent. This study argues that in the last chapter of Julia Alvarez's How the Garcâia Girls Lost Their Accents, the image of the wailing cat becomes a haunting image regarding Alvarez's own subject-position as a writer, a role that often places her in the center of harsh criticism. Consequently, this project traces the subaltern figures through three of Alvarez's texts -¡YO!, In the Time of the Butterflies, and Saving the World - in order to reveal the paradox that defines their relationship with the privileged body that seeks to be their representative. The subaltern cannot speak beyond the margins without the help of the elite; however, the same position of privilege and power that enables the intellectual to write can quickly become the factor that discredits their right to speak. Consequently, this study also attempts to reclaim the voice of Julia Alvarez, who is herself silenced and thus, rendered subaltern in the literary market by critics who feel that her privileged position complicates her ability to represent the collective.
Extent
vii, 94 p.
Recommended Citation
Alonso, Raquel., "Author-ity, privilege and violation" (2010). Electronic Theses and Dissertations 2010 - 2019. 13.
https://digitalcommons.fau.edu/etd_general_6/13
Identifier
FADT2867330
Comments
by Raquel Alonso.|Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010.|Includes bibliography.|Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.|by Raquel Alonso.