How long does it take to read Representations of the Intellectual?
the 1993 Reith lectures
Representations of the Intellectual by Edward W. Said takes about 2 hours 13 minutes to read at 250 words a minute.
About 2 hours 13 minutes
An evening's read
First published 1994. 121 pages, about 33,275 words.
5 days at 30 minutes a day
Estimate based on 275 words per page.
At other speeds
| Slow, 150 words a minute | 3 hours 42 minutes |
| Average, 250 words a minute | 2 hours 13 minutes |
| Fast, 400 words a minute | 1 hour 23 minutes |
The page count is the median across 3 editions, so your copy may differ. How we calculate.
About the book
Celebrated humanist, teacher, and scholar, Edward W. Said here examines the ever-changing role of the intellectual today. In these six stunning essays - delivered on the BBC as the prestigious Reith Lectures - Said addresses the ways in which the intellectual can best serve society in the light of a heavily compromised media and of special interest groups who are protected at the cost of larger community concerns. Said suggests a recasting of the intellectual's vision to resist the lures of power, money, and specialization. in these powerful pieces, Said eloquently illustrates his arguments by drawing on such writers as Antonio Gramsci, Jean-Paul Sartre, Regis Debray, Julien Benda, and Adorno, and by discussing current events and celebrated figures in the world of science and politics: Robert Oppenheimer, Henry Kissinger, Dan Quayle, Vietnam, and the Gulf War. Said sees the modern intellectual as an editor, journalist, academic, or political adviser - in other words, a highly specialized professional - who has moved from a position of independence to an alliance with powerful institutional organizations. He concludes that it is the exile-immigrant, the expatriate, and the amateur who must uphold the traditional role of the intellectual as the voice of integrity and courage, able to speak out against those in power.
Subjects: Intellectuals, Intellektueller, Intellectuelen, Beeldvorming, Classes sociais e grupos de interesse, Literatur
