postcolonialism

By Torkjell Fosse, 17 September, 2020
Publication Type
Language
Year
Journal volume and issue
15.5
Record Status
Abstract (in English)

In their article "Electronic Literature and the Effects of Cyberspace on the Body" Maya Zalbidea and Xiana Sotelo discuss how new technologies are facilitating the emancipation of subjugat- ed subjects aimed at transforming unequal social relations through an intersectional and performative approach. This perspective is discussed through the exploration of the so-called intersectional ap- proach described by Berger and Guidroz, Haraway's situated knowledges, and Butler's performative agency based on transgressions. Framed within the posthuman, post-biological deconstruction of so- cial and cultural hierarchies, Zalbidea and Sotelo argue for the value of a conjuncture between post- colonial post-modern/post-structuralist literature and the field of feminist cultural studies. Based on previous theories of gender and bodies in cyberspace, Zalbidea and Sotelo develop ideas about bodies, gender, and anxieties, and how these theories may be illustrated metaphorically in electronic literature and new media art works.

DOI
10.7771/1481-4374.2489
Creative Works referenced
Description (in English)

This modest work is an essay which engages non-linear narrative and includes multimedia elements such as sound and image. The title is taken from Gayatri Spivak's essay, "Can the subaltern speak?." Variously, postcolonialism and feminism as discourses of 'otherness' have addressed the notion of 'speaking' and 'speaking position', asking questions such as 'who speaks for whom?', 'who is authorised to speak'. Such questions displace the idea that the 'other' is absent or silent, or that the 'other' is indeed 'other'.

(Source: 2002 ELO State of the Arts gallery)

Screen shots
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speak 1
Image
speak 2