Nafssiya, Or Edward Said's Affective Phenomenology of Racism
Book Launch by Dr. Norman Saadi Nikro
Discussant: Smaran Dayal (Stevens Institute of Technology New York)
Nafssiya, Or Edward Said's Affective Phenomenology of Racism
This book adapts the Arabic term nafsiyya to trace the phenomenological contours of Edward Said’s analysis of the affective dimensions of colonial and imperial racism. Reflecting on what he called his “colonial education,” Said rendered his Palestinian/Arab background and experience of racism an enabling component of his academic work. The argument focuses on his “personal dimension” section in his introduction to his famous volume Orientalism, discussing key notions of Said’s oeuvre—such as ‘elaboration,’ ‘circumstance,’ ‘humanism,’ ‘worldliness,’ ‘inventory,’ and ‘critical consciousness.’ Providing a lengthy study of his earlier and somewhat neglected Beginnings: Intention and Method, the book discusses the significance of the style of the essay as a key component of what the author calls Said’s interventionist brand of scholarship. The final chapter outlines how Said’s oeuvre can be situated in a genealogy of a radical phenomenology of racism that emerged from the colonies.
Please register though the following link for attendance on Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEkcuGhqTwpGteH6crbg_M9MpKzKJwdrXU9
This event is part of the lecture series:
Book Presentation Series 2024
New Releases at ZMO
Details
Leibniz-Zentrum Moderner Orient, Kirchweg 33, 14129 Berlin / online