Crime Today News
Indian scholar and literary theorist Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak has been awarded the 2025 Holberg Prize for her “groundbreaking interdisciplinary research in comparative literature, translation, postcolonial studies, political philosophy, and feminist theory”.
She will be presented the prize on June 5 at the University of Bergen in Norway.
The international award includes a cash prize of $540,000 and is given annually to a researcher in the fields of humanities, social sciences, law or theology. It is funded by the Norwegian government and managed by the University of Bergen on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research.
Spivak was born in Kolkata on February 24, 1943.
An alumnus of the University of Calcutta and Cornell University, Spivak is currently a professor in the humanities at Columbia University and is considered one of the “most influential global intellectuals”.
She has written nine books and edited or translated several others. Her research has been translated into over 20 languages, and she has taught and spoken in more than 50 countries.
Spivak’s area of expertise is post-Hegelian philosophy and the plight of the subaltern, or social groups marginalised in history. One of her most influential works, the essay Can the Subaltern Speak?, is widely considered a foundational text in postcolonial subaltern studies.
In particular, Spivak has focused on subaltern women within discursive practices and cultural institutions.
“As a public intellectual and activist, Spivak combats illiteracy in marginalised rural communities across several countries, including in West Bengal, India where she has founded, funded and participated in educational initiatives,” Heike Krieger, the Holberg committee chair wrote.
“For Spivak, rigorous creativity must intersect with local initiatives to provide alternatives to intellectual colonialism,” the committe’s citation adds. “Spivak’s work challenges readers, students, and researchers to ‘train the imagination’ through a sustained study of literature and culture.”
Also read: ‘I’m a happy old girl’: The Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak 80th birthday interview
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