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Topic
Edward Said: A Virtual Book Discussion
Date & Time
Selected Sessions:
May 21, 2025 07:00 PM
Description
Join us for a compelling virtual book discussion of "Edward Said: The Politics of an Oppositional Intellectual" by Nubar Hovsepian (AUC Press, 2025), a profound exploration of the life, work, and legacy of one of the 20th century’s most influential thinkers and the foremost advocate for the Palestinian cause in the West.
In this special event, author Nubar Hovsepian will be in conversation with acclaimed journalist, interviewer, and award-winning radio host David Barsamian, founder of "Alternative Radio".
Together, they will explore the political, cultural, and personal dimensions of Edward Said’s thought—from his groundbreaking work "Orientalism" to his enduring advocacy for Palestinian rights and his vision for justice and humanism in global affairs. The conversation will also reflect on Said’s relevance in today’s world and Hovsepian’s unique insights as both a scholar and someone who knew Said personally.
About the book:
Edward Said was one of the most influential intellectuals of the twentieth century. A literary scholar with an aesthete’s temperament, he did not experience his political awakening until the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, which transformed his thinking and led him to forge ties with political groups and like-minded scholars. In this intimate intellectual biography, by a close friend and confidant, Nubar Hovsepian offers fascinating insight into the evolution of Said’s political thought. Through analysis of Said’s seminal works and the debates surrounding them, he traces the influence of Foucault on Said, and how Said eventually diverged from this influence to arrive at a more pronounced understanding of agency, resistance, and liberation. Hovsepian charts both Said’s engagement with the Palestinian national movement and his exchanges with a host of intellectuals over Palestine, arguing that Said’s interventions have succeeded in changing the parameters of the discourse in the humanities, and among younger Jews searching for political affiliation.