Edward Said

Edward Said Order Description Read the instruction file carefully? ian role of diagnostician- though (at the risk of truism) ian role of diagnostician- though (at the risk of truism) it is hard to see what Baudrillard's account ol the demise of Western universalism is il not diagnostic. See Paroxysm: Interviews with Philippe Petit (London: Verso, 1998), pp. 7-25 (esp. pp. 12-15). 24 Pierre Bourdieu, "The Corporatism of the Universal: The Role of Intellectuals in the Modern World," Telos, 8 I (I 989): I 08. For a fuller account see Jeremy Jennings's essay in this volume, and Lane, Pierre Bourdieu, pp. I 99-200. 25 Lane, Pierre Bourdieu, p. 201. 26 See Stefan Collini's essay in this volume. 18 The Public Role of Writers and Intellectuals Ed W. Said Almost exactly 20 years ago, The Nation magazine convened a congress of writers in New York by putting out notices for the event and, as I understood the tactic, leaving open the question of who was a writer and why he or she qualified to attend. The result was that literally hundreds of people showed up, crowding the main ballroom of a midtown Manhattan hotel almost to the ceiling. The occasion itself was intended as a response by the intellectual and artistic communities to the immediate onset of the Reagan era. As I recall the proceedings, a debate raged for a long time over the definition of a writer in the hope that some of the people there would be selected out or, in plain English, forced to leave. The reason for that was twofold: first of all, to decide who had a vote and who didn't, and second, to form a writer's union. Not much occurred in the way of reduced and manageable numbers; the hearteningly large mass of people simply remained immense and unwieldy since it was quite clear that everyone who came as a writer who opposed Reaganism stayed on as a writer who opposed Reaganism. I remember clearly that at one point someone sensibly suggested that we should adopt what was said to be the Soviet position on defining a writer, that is, a writer is someone who says that he or she is a writer. And, I think that is where matters seem to have rested, even though a National Writer's Union was formed but restricted its functions to technical professional matters like fairer standardized contracts between publishers and writers. An American Writers' Congress to deal with expressly political issues was also formed, but was derailed by people who in effect wanted it for one or another specific political agenda that could not get a consensus. Since that time, an immense amount of change has taken place in the world of writers and intellectuals and, if anything, the definition 19 Read the article;and write a reflection paper. 1 be aware that this is NOT an essay, it is just a reflection paper, you don’t need to write an introduction and conclusion . 2.    Most importantly, you should write your own thoughts and opinions after reading the article. You should write that you agree/disagree with anything in the article…  remember to take the ownership of the reading. 3.    No references are required in this paper, it is all about your ideas.