The Legacy of Spivak’s Subaltern Theory: A Systematic Literature Review in Postcolonial Criticism

Abstract

This study aims to map the influence of Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's theory of the subaltern in the field of postcolonial literary criticism over the past twenty-five years. Meanwhile, through the systematic literature review method, this study analyzed 20 academic articles published between 2000 and 2025 that directly used or discussed subaltern theory in a literary context. The analysis's findings also show how Spivak's theory has been effectively used to study the representation, voice, agency, and marginalization issues in literary works from a variety of previous colonies. Thus, the representation of subaltern voices, the role of silence as a political method, the connection between subalternity and issues of gender, race, and class, and the critique and revision of Spivak's theory are the most significant results. As a result, the study also emphasizes the importance of additional research to ensure the relevance of subaltern theory in contemporary sociopolitical and cultural contexts, such as globalization and digital media. As a result, this study greatly improves our knowledge of how Spivak's theory improved postcolonial literary interpretation