Edward Said about the Responsibilty of the Intellectual

Essay from the year 2015 in the subject American Studies - Literature, , language: English, abstract: It is commonly observed that the intellectuals are increasingly withdrawing themselves from the world and retiring into the insular cells of academic exercise. But Edward Said feels that as intellectuals are the best brains of society, they should have a genuine interest in the order of things in society and the world. This article examines Said's arguments and stakes about the role and responsibility of the intellectual. The present paper seeks to engage with certain crucial aspects of the Saidian formulations of and about the intellectuals. As an Arab Palestinian working as a professor of literature in an elite American institution, Said was fighting injustice and discrimination at all levels all through. This struggle against his overarching surroundings of power and politics also gets reflected in his deliberations on the role of the intellectuals in an increasingly globalized and conformist world.

Jaydeep Chakrabarty, PhD is an Assistant Professor of English at Assam University, India. He has been into postgraduate teaching and research since 2004. His areas of interest are British Literature, Literary and Critical Theory, Postcolonial Literature and Medieval Bangla Literature. His major publications include three books Edward Said and the Great Tradition, Edward Said: Texts in Context and The English Department and a large number of research papers in national and international journals