Subaltern

A subaltern is a military term for a junior officer. Literally meaning "subordinate", subaltern is used to describe commissioned officers below the rank of captain and generally comprises the various grades of lieutenant. In the British Army the senior subaltern rank was captain-lieutenant, obsolete since the 18th century.

Related Topics:
Military - Officer - Subordinate - Commissioned officer - Rank - Captain - Lieutenant - British Army - Captain-lieutenant - 18th century

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Prior to reform of the British Army in 1871, the ranks of cornet and ensign were the junior subaltern ranks in the cavalry and infantry respectively.

Related Topics:
Cornet - Ensign

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The term is used in postcolonial theory to refer to the lower classes; this sense of the word was coined by Antonio Gramsci. In current philosophical and critical usage, the term specifically describes a person rendered without agency by her or his social status, a sense that owes its influence to Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak's essay "Can the Subaltern Speak?"

Related Topics:
Postcolonial - Antonio Gramsci - Philosophical - Critical - Agency - Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~