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Representations of the Intellectual
Brief Description
Are intellectuals merely the servants of special interests, or do they have a larger responsibility? In these wide-ranging essays, one of our most brilliant and fiercely independent public thinkers addresses this question with extraordinary eloquence. Edward W. Said sees the intellectual as an exile and amateur...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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In these impassioned and inspiring essays, based on his 1993 Reith Lectures, Edward Said explores the role of the intellectual in the modern world.
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Description
Are intellectuals merely the servants of special interests, or do they have a larger responsibility? In these wide-ranging essays, one of our most brilliant and fiercely independent public thinkers addresses this question with extraordinary eloquence.
Edward W. Said sees the intellectual as an exile and amateur whose role it is 'to speak the truth to power' even at the risk of ostracism or imprisonment. Drawing on the examples of Jonathan Swift and Theodor Adorno, Robert Oppenheimer and Henry Kissinger, Vietnam and the Gulf War, Said explores the implications of this idea and shows what happens when intellectuals succumb to the lures of money, power, or specialization.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781804272244
Publisher: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 15 January 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Fitzcarraldo Editions
Contributors:
- Introduction by Isabella Hammad
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 125.0mm
Height: 197.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 120
About the Author
Edward W. Said (1935-2003) was one of the world's most influential literary and cultural critics. Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, he was the author of twenty-two books, including Orientalism, Culture and ImperialismandOut of Place. He was also a music critic, opera scholar, pianist and the most eloquent spokesman for the Palestinian cause in the West.
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