SPIVAK, GAYATRI CHAKRAVORTY

Spivak: the subaltern, defined by exclusion from the dominant epistemic frame, cannot speak in a way the frame can register without converting them. CoCA's acceptance of "Explanation withheld" as a valid description (§3.4.1) is a procedural concession to this difficulty. The institution declines to require translation. The silence is filed as silence. The frame is partially refused. The applicant retains what the institution cannot hold.