Edward Said: Writing in the Service of Life
Academic and novelist Layla AlAmmar interrogates her life's creative and scholarly achievements against the teachings of Edward Said.
TMR 35 • PUBLIC INTELLECTUAL
In the 20th century, public intellectuals were the international stars of literature and ideas — they were Albert Camus, James Baldwin, Susan Sontag, Roland Barthes, Frantz Fanon, Edward Said and too many others to name in the “west.” In the Arab world and Africa there was a time when we looked to writers like Mouloud Feraoun, Kateb Yacine and Assia Djebar in Algeria and Ghassan Kanafani out of Palestine, as well as a parade of intelligensia from Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Morocco and beyond. But who do we turn to, today?
The Vanishing of the Public Intellectual
Public intellectuals no longer exist, argues Moustafa Bayoumi; they have been usurped by "influencers."
Editors’ Picks: Public Intellectuals
The editors of The Markaz Review made the difficult choice of selecting just two of their go-to public intellectuals.
The Contemporary Literary Scene in Iran
Salar Abdoh reports from Tehran on the beauty and complexity of Iranian literature that thrives despite warring factions.
In and Between Languages: Writing on the Fault Line
Nektaria Anastasiadou writes about her decision to pen her works using the historically fractured language of the Istanbul dialect of Greek.
“Silence is Golden”—a short story by Farah Ahamed
In Farah Ahamed's latest satire, one man's misunderstood greatness drives him to take preposterous action.
It Is Time to Reclaim Public Intellectuals
Deborah Lindsey Williams Writing in the early part of the 19th century, Alexis de Tocqueville observed that in the newly founded America, “there does not exist . .… Continue reading It Is Time to Reclaim Public Intellectuals
Reza Aslan’s An American Martyr in Persia Argues for US-Iranian Friendship
Dalia Sofer reviews Reza Aslan's latest book on American Howard Baskerville, "martyred" alongside revolutionary students in Iran in 1909.
“Supplication”—a short story by Hisham Bustani
In Hisham Bustani’s new short story, one man’s religious nightmare brings him face to face with an unlikely public intellectual of his day.
Why Fawwaz Traboulsi?
Twenty years ago, argues Amal Ghandour, it would have been Edward Said. It’s Traboulsi, his best translator, in 2023.
The Task of the Public Intellectual? Translation
Deborah Kapchan calls for public intellectuals who can speak in many registers amidst the rise of attacks on intellectualism everywhere.
Fairouz: The Peacemaker and Champion of Palestine
In her new book, Dima Issa argues that the influence of Lebanese vocal artist Fairouz on the Arab diaspora has been profound.
Alaa Abd El-Fattah: Political Prisoner and Public Intellectual
Yasmine Al Rashidi on writer-thinker Alaa Abdel Fattah who advocates for the rights of those without platforms to campaign for themselves.
“Kaleidoscope: In Pursuit of the Real in a Virtual World”—fiction from Dina Abou Salem
Caught between Beirut and a town in the Californian desert, Buthayna searches for the meaning amid life’s absurdities.
Adel Abidin, October 2023
Adel Abidin is an Iraqi-Finnish artist who explores history, memory and identity in his installations, painting, drawings and videos.