Intellectual

In these lands, which have never been on good terms with thought, a mentality that "terrorizes" thought and the intellectuals who embody it, and has become so reckless as to directly brand it with "treason", has come to dominate these lands. Nationalist and religious fanaticism does not even allow anyone other than themselves the right to live, let alone express their thoughts. He wants to monopolize the "right to love" these lands. Although he is famous for opposing the hypocritical prejudices of the West's understanding of Islam, this important book of Edward Said, who displays a real intellectual attitude by defending Salman Rushdie's freedom of expression to the end, is extremely "in the context of Turkey." We think it sits in a 'discriminating' place. Said defines the intellectual first by his refusal to serve authority and power, and then by the distance he keeps between himself and his nationality, religion and tradition. Echoing Adorno, who said, "It is a matter of morality to feel at home when one is at home," it places the intellectual in a metaphorical exile, a position of homelessness. For him, exile is a position that involves not being a native of the society (and even the world) he lives in, but being a foreigner who is always anxious, uncomfortable and disturbs others. But the intellectual, who goes beyond the cheap certainties offered by his past, language, and nationality and insists on the ideal of universality, experiences being marginal not as a deprivation, but as a freedom and a process of discovery. The intellectual is not, as in the past, someone who creates general symbols that will create a consensus in society; questioning these symbols and exposing the hypocrisy, racism and sexism of traditions and values that are considered sacred; He is a person who does not hesitate to fight with the guardians of the holy text who cannot tolerate any difference of opinion. While the pressure of professionalization is increasing, an intellectual is an individual who insists on representing his own opinion and attitude in the public sphere as an amateur on behalf of the poor, the ignored and the weak. He does not believe in any hero or political god. Those who are afraid of thought have nothing to do with this book!



Number of Pages: 110

Year of Printing: 2015


Language: Turkish
Publisher: Details Publications

First Printing Year: 1995

Number of Pages: 110

Language Turkish