Edward Said’s Orientalism, 30 years on
Posted on 29 October 2008
Orientalism, Edward Said’s most influential and controversial work, had a huge impact on its publication in 1978. At a time when the West is engaged in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Middle East remains deeply troubled, the subjects explored by Said are as important as ever.
Three decades after it was published, Orientalism continues to inform discussions surrounding major global events, such as the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
Dr Ziad Elmarsafy
Experts will meet at the University of York on 1 November for a one-day conference to review the issues raised by the book, analyse the impact it made at the time of publication and discuss the influence it continues to have today.
The guest speakers at the event will include Robert Irwin, author of the 2006 critique of Said’s book, Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and its Discontents, and Professor Peter Gran, from Temple University, in the United States, author of Beyond Eurocentrism: A New View of Modern World History.
Dr Ziad Elmarsafy, from the University’s Department of English and Related Literature and one of the conference organisers, said: "Three decades after it was published, Edward Said’s Orientalism continues to inform discussions surrounding major global events, such as the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Orientalism has made an indelible mark on a number of fields in the humanities and the social sciences. Perhaps more than any other comparable work of the period, it has succeeded in returning Anglo-American literary criticism and theory to an engagement with history and politics.
"We thought it was important to take advantage of this occasion to gauge the impact of a work that continues to inspire controversy and debate."
The conference will be recorded and made available via podcast along with an interview with Robert Irwin. The podcasts will be available at the conference website, www.orientalism30yearslater.co.uk, after the event.
The symposium is supported by the Centre for Applied Human Rights, the Roberts Fund, the Centre for Modern Studies, and the Institute for the Public Understanding of the Past at the University of York.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- Further details of the event are available at: www.orientalism30yearslater.co.uk