Marx’s ‘they cannot represent themselves’ is ironic, not dismissive

Evidence

Let me say, however, that that passage that has been quoted by so many respected, and justifiably respected, radical critics as the sign of Marx’s implacable racism, or classism, or whatever the hell it is—“They cannot represent themselves”—is such a profoundly ironic passage as it is used by Marx. I’m surprised that critics of stature have not taken the trouble to read all of that complicated essay, Eighteenth Brumaire, carefully enough to know that one doesn’t fault Marx on that one. — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader, 2430

Let me say, however, that that passage that has been quoted by so many respected, and justifiably respected, radical critics as the sign of Marx’s implacable racism, or classism, or whatever the hell it is—“They cannot represent themselves”—is such a profoundly ironic passage as it is used by Marx. I’m surprised that critics of stature have not taken the trouble to read all of that complicated essay, Eighteenth Brumaire, carefully enough to know that one doesn’t fault Marx on that one. There were plenty of problems with Marx’s attitudes because they were also within his permissible narrative. But not that phrase. — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader, 2430

Categorization

• XREF: Spivak defends Marx on the very phrase she reused for her title — a reversal of the usual anti-Marxist reading and useful to the genealogy of ‘cannot speak’.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Donna Landry and Gerald MacLean, The Spivak Reader: Selected Works of…, 2430