What is the primary argument of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay 'Can the Subaltern Speak?'
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Correct answer: The subaltern's voice is silenced by both colonial and indigenous patriarchal structures
Spivak argues that the 'subaltern'—those at the lowest levels of the social hierarchy—cannot truly speak or be heard because the structures of power and language available to them are defined by their oppressors. This critiques the tendency of Western academics to claim they are speaking 'for' the marginalized.
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