Said Case Study
Description | Goal | Materials | Guidelines | Format
Description:
We will begin our discussion of Edward Said's writing and approaches to
discourse, representation, and power by responding to a videotape of a
lecture that he gave as part of a student seminar at Mount Holyoke in
1999. In addition to discussing the impact that Said's views about exile
and literature have on our thinking about topics raised in previous classes,
we will comment on the impression that seeing Said speak makes upon our
understanding of his work. The Said group will facilitate our discussion
of the film and lead us into discussion of the assigned essays and their
themes: 1) the representation of the Other in the "Introduction to
Orientalism", 2) the role of intellectual in exile in "Intellectual
Exile: Expatriates and Marginals" and 3) the relation between Said's
biography and his political position on Zionism and the "Palestinian
Question" in "Zionism from the Standpoint of its Victims."
Once we have established the main premises of Said's work and raised questions
about his point of view and methodological approach to issues of power,
representation, and discourse, we will be ready to tackle the focus of
our case study; the reproduced photo of Said throwing (or appearing) to
throw a stone across the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The goal of the case study is to understand
the relation between words and action and between theory and practice
by examining the role and the representation of the engaged intellectual.
What is the relationship between Said's writing and his actions? How does
one impact the other? What happens when the engagement of an intellectual
such as Said is reduced to (or enhanced by) a photograph. Two quotes form
the framework for our discussion:
"No one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from
the circumstances of life, from the fact of his involvement (conscious
or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a social position, or
from the mere activity of being a member of a society. These continue
to bear on what he does professionally, even thought naturally enough
his research and its fruits do attempt to reach a level of relative freedom
from the inhibitions and the restrictions of brute, everyday reality.
For there is such a thing as knowledge that is less, rather than more,
partial than the individual (with his entangling and distracting life
circumstances) who produces it. Yet this knowledge is not therefore nonpolitical."
(Orientalism, 10).
"There is no such thing as a private intellectual, since the moment
you set down words and then publish them you have entered the public world.
Nor is there only a public intellectual, someone who exists just as a
figurehead or spokesperson or symbol of a cause, movement, or position.
There is always the personal inflection and the private sensibility, and
those give meaning to what is being said or written." (Representations
of the Intellectual, 12).
Materials: The entire class will read the
following articles, which are included in the packet for the case study:
1) "Columbia Breaks Silence…."
2) "A Stone's Throw in Lebanon…."
3) "On the Matter of Edward Said" (Statement by Jonathan R. Cole, Provost and Dean of Faculties Columbia University)
4) "A Cry for Help"
5) diverse letters to the Editors regarding the decision of the Freud Society of Vienna to cancel Said's lecture.
Guidelines: Before you read the articles study the photo of Said. What is your interpretation of the scene represented here? What is Said doing? Would you attach any symbolic value to what you see? Explain. As you read the articles please keep the following questions in mind and raise your own:
1) What is the controversy as you see it? What have been some of the consequences for Said?
2) What are the points of view and how are they expressed and by whom?
3) What does the reaction to Said's action tell us about general expectations about the role of the intellectual in the United States? in the Middle East?
4) What was the situation in the Middle East when the photo of Said was taken? Does the present situation change your interpretation of the photo?
5) How does the image affect your reading (or rereading) of Said's work?
6) If you were able to discuss this incident with Said, what questions would you pose to him?
7) In what ways can we draw broader inferences about the accountability of the scholar/public intellectual in specific contexts? Give examples.
Format: Each group will be asked to reflect on one of the main articles based on the relevant questions above and share their views with the rest of the class. The Said group will respond to those statements that are directed toward Said.