Valerie Kennedy – författare

Edward Said is one of the foremost thinkers writing today. His work as a literary and cultural critic, a political commentator, and the champion of the cause of Palestinian rights has given him a unique position in western intellectual life. This new book is a major exploration and assessment of his writings in all these main areas. Focusing on Said's insistence on the connection between literature, politics and culture, Kennedy offers an overview and assessment of the main strands of Said's work, drawing out the links and contradictions between each area. The book begins with an examination of Orientalism, one of the founding texts of post-colonial studies. Kennedy looks at the book in detail, probing both its strengths and weaknesses, and linking it to its sequel, Culture and Imperialism. She then examines Said's work on the Palestinian people, with his emphasis on the need for a Palestinian narrative to counter pro-Israeli accounts of the Middle East, and his searing criticisms of US, Israeli, and even Arab governments. The book closes with an examination of Said's importance in the field of post-colonial studies, notably colonial discourse analysis and post-colonial theory, and his significance as a public intellectual.This book will be of great interest to anyone studying post-colonialism, literary theory, politics, and the Middle East, as well as anyone interested in Said's writings.

Henrietta Liston’s Constantinople journal is a significant and hitherto virtually unknown work of women's travel writing. As the wife of the British Ambassador to the Porte, Liston had privileged access to parts of the Sultan’s entourage and the Ottoman elite. Her journal details her journey by sea from England to Istanbul and the diplomatic mission’s Mediterranean stops at the time of the Napoleonic wars and reflects on the political situation of Europe, focusing in particular on the British and the Ottoman Empires. Yet it also offers a human-centred version of the picturesque, and includes depictions of a plague-ridden Constantinople, a visit to the harem of the Kaimakam, excursions to Belgrade Village, the presentation of ambassadors in the Seraglio, and the departure of pilgrims on the hajj.This edition features Liston’s journal alongside a selection of her other, shorter writings from Turkey, including accounts of key diplomatic incidents and personal experiences.