Kolkata-born Gayatri Spivak gets 2025 Holberg Prize

KOLKATA: Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, literary critic and postcolonial scholar, is now in the city, her hometown, as she savours news of her receiving the 2025 Holberg Prize - the closest equivalent to the Nobel in the field of

humanities

, social sciences, law, or theology research - for her groundbreaking work in literary theory and philosophy.
"I am tremendously grateful that the Holberg Committee continues to recognise the importance of humanities. No law or policy can prevail if people do not want it. Humanities can create a desire for the good of others," Spivak told TOI.
Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee Monday congratulated Spivak "on her attaining yet another top international recognition". Banerjee, on X, said she is "charmed by Spivak's long and sustained association with pro-poor voluntary services in some remote villages of Bengal".
The statement from the Holberg Prize committee reads: "Spivak is considered one of the most influential global intellectuals of our time, and she has shaped

literary criticism

and philosophy since the 1970s. She receives the prize for her groundbreaking interdisciplinary research in comparative literature, translation,

postcolonial studies

, political philosophy, and feminist theory."

The citation also states, "Spivak combats illiteracy in marginalized rural communities across several countries, including in Bengal... ."
Spivak completed her graduation in English at Presidency College in 1959. She did her PhD from Cornell University in 1967. Since 2007, she has been a professor at

Columbia University

, where she is also a founding member of Institute for Comparative Literature & Society.
Professors, alumni of Presidency University and Calcutta University, and academics say the award is an acknowledgement of the influence of Spivak's works on humanities community across the globe.
Dipesh Chakrabarty, a historian and scholar of postcolonial theory and subaltern studies, said: "It's a big recognition of the various contributions she has made to a variety of fields in the humanities. Her '

Can the Subaltern Speak?

?' will continue to be discussed for the questions it raised."
Partha Chatterjee, a political scientist, said: "

Gayatri Spivak

is a leading literary scholar of our time. The prize is richly deserved."