Conversations with Edward Said

by Tariq Ali (Editor), Edward W. Said (Contributor)

In these conversations with Tariq Ali, recorded in Edward Said's Riverside Drive apartment in New York in June 1994, about a decade before he finally lost his battle with cancer, Said brings his considerable intellect and deep personal engagement to bear on some of the most troubling and volatile issues of our time as he ranges back over his own dislocated existence, his initiation into politics, his involvement with the Palestine cause, his approach to the study of culture and his pervasive love of literature and music. Intimate, personal, thought-provoking and absorbing, these conversations capture Said as political activist, cultural historian, professor of literature and music aficionado -- and confirm his position as one of the most passionate and thoughtful intellections of our time.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Philosophy, History, Pakistan

128 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Tariq Ali (Punjabi, Urdu: طارق علی) is a British-Pakistani historian, novelist, filmmaker, political campaigner, and commentator. He is a member of the editorial committee of the New Left Review and Sin Permiso, and regularly contributes to The Guardian, CounterPunch, and the London Review of Books.

He is the author of several books, including Can Pakistan Survive? The Death of a State (1991) , Pirates Of The Caribbean: Axis Of Hope (2006), Conversations with Edward Said (2005), Bush in Babylon (2003), and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity (2002), A Banker for All Seasons (2007) and the recently published The Duel (2008).

Reviews

[Saman · Rating 3 out of 5]

کتاب کوتاه و نسبتا خوبی بود. کتاب در واقع مصاحبه طارق علی با ادوارد سعید بود که علی رغم کوتاهی ولی سعی شده بود از موضوعات مختلفی صحبت بشه و اینطور نیست که فقط از مساله مقاومت و فلسطین سوال پرسیده بشه. مثلا ابتدای گفت‌و‌گو در مورد علایق ادوارد سعید در حوزه موسیقی و ادبیات و دوران کودکیش بحث میشه. ادواردی که سفر به کشورهای دیگه برای زندگی رو از ابتدا در زندگی خودش داشته و واسه همین هم هست که در بحث‌های انتهایی خودش رو تبعیدی می‌دونه. به طور کلی در مورد موضوعاتی مثل ادبیات، موسیقی، مساله فلسطین، نقش روشنفکر  ، آمریکا و شرق شناسی تو این مصاحبه صحبت به عمل میاد که میتونه یه شمای کلی از تفکرات سعید به مخاطب بده. همونطور که در ابتدا اشاره کردم در عین اختصار در مورد موضوعات متنوعی حرف زده میشه، همین نکته علاوه بر مثبت بودن، عامل منفی هم بود و اختصار بیش از حد در موضوعات گوناگون گاهی مصاحبه رو ابتر نشون میداد.

نظرات سعید در مورد عرفات خیلی جالب بود. ابتدا با کلی تحسین همراه بود اما مخالفت سعید با عرفات از پیمان اسلو شکل میگیره و سعید معتقد بوده این پیمان خطای بزرگی بوده. البته که او معتقد بوده نباید با دید یک توافق کوتاه مدت وارد میشدند و یک طرح بلندمدت برای این مساله میداشتند ولی آیا داشتن طرح بلند مدت هم تضمینی برای ایجاد صلح پایدار در منطقه فلسطین بوده؟! اساسا فلسطین و گروه هایی که بر آن حکومت کرده‌اند، آیا قدرت تاثیرگذاری در این حد رو میتونن داشته باشند؟ تاریخ به ما پاسخ داده که خیر و اسرائیل همیشه با زور حرفشو به کرسی نشونده. پس انتقادهای سعید به عرفات و سازمان آزادی بخش در این موضوع، برای من کمی آرمانی و به دور از واقعیت بود... امیدوارم یه روزی همت کنم و کتاب معروفش، شرق شناسی رو بخونم..

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m a big fan of Edward Said. He has a brilliant way of writing and some of the points he makes are able to push your brain into directions you never thought your brain could go. The book is a short series of conversations that took place between him and Tariq Ali (i'd also read a few of his books in the past and liked him also). This was a very short book and has whetted my appetite for reading orientalism which is his major piece of thinking and work. The book was interesting and covered topics such as Palestine, language, thought, the role of Edward’s father in his life, racism and his insights on other books that influenced him and other writers.
One of the best parts of the book was when Said writes: “spontaneity of affiliations rather than filiations are what I really cherish. Friendships, connections, intellectual and spiritual, with people, matter much more to me than things that develop out of my particular identity." Not the internet of things but the "internet of humans". Can you imagine if somehow we were connected in some way as human beings?

[Shadin Pranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

এডওয়ার্ড ওয়াদি সাঈদ যিনি সমাধিক পরিচিত এডওয়ার্ড সাঈদ নামে। তারিক আলি লেখালিখি করেন,চলচ্চিত্রনির্মাতা এবং সমালোচক।

১৯৯৪ সাল,জুন মাস চলছে। এডওয়ার্ড ওয়াদি সাঈদ ততোদিনে বিশ্বখ্যাত বুদ্ধিজীবী,নিজে খ্রিষ্টান হওয়া সত্ত্বেও প্যালেস্টাইনের মুক্তিকামী মানুষদের প্রতি তার ভালোবাসা বিশ্ববিদিত। "ওরিয়েন্টালিজম " প্রকাশিত হয়ে ঝড় তুলেছে। সাঈদের অন্যান্য বইও প্রকাশিত হয়েছে। সেই '৯৪ সালের জুনে সাঈদের নিউইয়র্কের ভাড়া ফ্ল্যাটে আলাপচারিতায় বসলেন তারিক আলি আর সাঈদ।

তারিক আলি কথার পিঠে কথা বলেছেন আর সাঈদও কথাপরম্পরায় নিজের বেড়ে ওঠা থেকে রাজনীতি, সংগীত, ধর্মচিন্তা নিয়ে অনেক কথা বলেছেন।

সাহিত্য পাঠ নিয়ে বলতে গিয়ে সাঈদ বলেন,

"প্রথম যা আমি পড়েছি সেটা হলো রবিনসন ক্রুশো।"

সাঈদ আরও বলেন,

"আমি সবসময়ই পড়তাম, আর মূলতঃ পড়তাম উপন্যাস "

সাঈদ পড়তে চেয়েছিলেন মেডিসিন আর পড়লেন সাহিত্য। কায়রোর ইংরেজ প্রতিষ্ঠিত স্কুলে পড়ার সময় সেই সময়কার পরিস্থিতির স্মৃতিচারণ করতে ভোলেননি। জেরুজালেমে শৈশব কেমন ছিল তার বেশ খানিকটা জানিয়েছেন পাঠককে।

কীভাবে যুক্ত হলেন প্যালেস্টাইনের স্বাধীনতা আন্দোলনের সাথে তা বিস্তারিত না জানা গেলেও ইয়াসির আরাফাতের সান্নিধ্যের বিষয়টি এটির সঙ্গে জড়িত। সাঈদ বলেন,

"১৯৭০ সালে জর্ডানের আম্মানে তার সাথে আমি দেখা করি।"

অনেকেই সাঈদের প্রাচ্যপ্রীতি আর প্যালেস্টাইনিদের পাশে দাঁড়ানো পছন্দ করেননি। সাঈদ সেই সব ব্যক্তিকে কড়া জবাব দিয়েছেন।

কঠোর প্রকৃতির ছিলেন সাঈদের পিতা। অনেকটা তার পাল্লায় পড়ে জুতো সেলাই থেকে চণ্ডিপাঠ সবেতেই হাত পাকাতে হয়েছে সাঈদকে। সংগীতের প্রতি সাঈদের আকর্ষণ অনেক আগে থেকে। সেই আকর্ষণের কমতি নেই আলোচনায়ও।

বেশ বৈচিত্র্যময় আলাপচারিতার সাক্ষ্য "এডওয়ার্ড সাঈদের সাথে আলাপ"

এ বইয়ের সবচেয়ে নেতিবাচক দিক হলো মাঝে মাঝে অনুবাদক খেই হারিয়ে ফেলছিলেন বলে মনে হচ্ছিল আর বানান ভুল (তুলনামূলক কম) বিরক্তি তৈরি করেছিল।

[Mehmet Koç · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Nehir söyleşi formatında, konuşan kadar konuşturan da önemli. Tarık Ali, bu söyleşide Said için de bir avantaj olmuş. Söyleşi kısa, ama vurucu detaylarla bezenmiş.

-Said'in aykırı portresi, polemikçiliği, elitistliği, kavgaları, mücadelesi vs metne yansımış. Başta Filistin davası, edebiyat, tarih, müzik, Araplık, Amerikalılık, kimlikler olmak üzere bu "cins kafa"nın sıradışı notlarını okumakta fayda var. Kendi adıma Said'i yeniden tanıdım

-Son bir ilginç not: 1967 Savaşı'ndaki hezimetin radikalleştirdiği Said, 1977-91 arasında FKÖ'nün aktif bir üyesi. 1978'de çıkan, imdiden klasikler arasına giren başucu kitabı Şarkiyatçılık'ı da bu yeni bağlılığın ve politik duruşunun nişânesi olarak yazmış

[Hakkı Sayın · Rating 3 out of 5]

Said'in dünyasına giriş anlamında fena bir kitap değil. Daha derinlikli olabilirmiş, ama rahat okunuyor. Uzun bir gazete söyleşisi gibi.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I took a long bus trip so I can read this book in peace. A remarkable interview conducted by Tarip Ali with the great "thinker" Edward Said. Any person who is a fan of Glen Gould is OK with me. I also like his stance on dandyism as well. The main reason why I wanted to pick this book up is due to get more information regarding Palestine and Israel. I got some of that, but the great thing about Said is that he doesn't speak for others, he speaks his own mind - and his perception I think is basically wise. But overall the book is about a lot of things. Music, literature (he was a huge fan of Conrad and Kipling) and of course the politics. A quick read and very very enjoyable.

[Tripmastermonkey · Rating 3 out of 5]

i love interviews with edward said. i think i like the format of interviews in general (which is why radio should never die), but edward is able to speak on so many topics, and is a true example of why one should never stop learning and be open to new experiences. i think there are limitations to his own introspection, but it's matched by how he sees the world as a beautiful place to explore, though he knew there was so much to fight for.

[Kasey Asberry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Direct accounts are irreplaceable but this book even more than Out of Place tells us who Edward Said was because (as he said) he valued friendship above everything but scholarship and was loyal to people rather than systems of thought.

[Scott Neigh]

Reviewed here.

[James F · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although Tariq Ali is listed as the author, apart from a memorial preface (reprinted in the collection of essays I read last week), the text is primarily the words of Edward Said, who was interviewed by Ali for a filmed documentary in 1994. Said was from a relatively wealthy Palestinian Christian family which left Jerusalem for Cairo in 1947 (most of his other relatives were driven into exile the next year); he was sent to a boarding school in the United States and later attended Princeton and Harvard before becoming a professor of comparative literature at Columbia. As an academic, he is best known for his books Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. He was also quite knowledgeable about music; the only books I had previously read by him were about music, Music at the Limits and his dialogue with Daniel Barenboim, Parallels and Paradoxes, both published posthumously. To most people, however, he is best known for his role as an activist for the Palestinian cause.

The conversation here touches on all these facets: his early life, his involvement in politics, his books, and even his ideas on music. His criticisms of the Palestinian leadership, and Yasser Arafat in particular, are quite interesting, as is his view that the Palestinians needed to win over and make alliances with sectors of the Israeli Jewish population, something the Palestinian official leadership never attempted (and couldn't, given their commitment to a military strategy long after it was hopeless.) I was reminded of the debates within the Irish movement. The book ends with a criticism of liberal and "left" academics for their lack of real involvement in political movements.

[Isabella · Rating 4 out of 5]

"If politics is simply the art of the possible and the art of the conclusive and the art of the compromise, I think it's the role of the intellectual always to be asserting the alternative" (pg 109).

"The effects of colonialism are much deeper and go on much longer than when the last white policeman leaves. And echoing Fanon I've always believed that the real problems occur after the oppressed are no longer oppressed, because then the questions of social transformation, of nationalism, of development, really become the responsibility of the oppressed" (pg 101).

[Yukinosita Yukino · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love him. I love him.

[Hamza Almawed · Rating 3 out of 5]

it's great book but it needs to include some explanation especially to philosophy terms.....