Edward Said: An Oppositional Intellectual
From on high, establishment intellectuals replicate dominant societal narratives, power structures, and established norms. And as long as they perform that task, they are honored, and celebrated and are invited to all the talk shows, and attend dinner parties of the rich and powerful, and get to play golf with them and they are, of course, well rewarded financially. In sharp contrast are intellectuals who go against the grain, who rock the boat, who challenge the existing order, who contest the hegemonic discourse, who speak the truth and expose the lies and deceptions of officialdom. An oppositional intellectual not only questions mainstream ideologies and received wisdom but also offers alternatives. Edward Said was one of the 20th century’s most influential intellectuals. He exemplified the oppositional intellectual who made the comfortable uncomfortable.
Interviewed by David Barsamian.
Speaker
Nubar Hovsepian
Nubar Hovsepian is an associate professor emeritus of political science at Chapman University in Orange, California. He served from 1982 to 1984 as political affairs officer for the United Nations Conference on the Question of Palestine. He edited and contributed to The War on Lebanon. He is the author of Palestinian State Formation: Education and the Construction of National Identity and Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual.
A concerned global citizen –
I just happened to listen to a part of the broadcast on KGNU radio while driving and I was mesmerized by the quality of discussion and the content of the show. I’m so grateful for such channels of conversation existing and presenting points of view to Americans that may not be heard otherwise and offering a nuanced portrayal of such an important figure for the Palestinian Cause. I appreciate it.
American –
Exceptional, Exemplary
From Jenny in Colorado –
Nubar Hovsepian is an exceptional historian who is brilliant and fascinating. He recounts the activities of and deeply analyzes the important thinkers and leaders of mid-20th-century radical movements. Hovsepian contemplates the essential life and work of the late, very great Palestinian-American academic and activist Edward Said.
From Nader Hashemi, Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at Georgetown University. –
Edward W. Said was one of the most important and influential intellectuals of the late 20th century. His accomplishments were many but arguably his most important achievement was humanizing the Palestinian people before a Western audience that had viewed them through an American/Israeli national security lens. Listening to Nubar Hovsepian, a close friend and confidant of Said, recall his ideas and intellectual contributions, reminds one of Said’s humanism, analytical probity, and sheer brilliance. There is a special power and poignancy, however, in listening to Dr. Hovsepian ruminate on Edward Said in the context of the genocide in Gaza today. Much of what Said wrote in the final decade of his life on the question of Palestine prefigured this current catastrophic unfolding today in Palestine.