Freud And The Non-European [Paperback]

Banned by the Freud institute in Vienna, this controversial lecture eventually became Edward Said’s final book.Freud and the Non-Europeanbuilds on Said’s abiding interest in the psychoanalyst’s work to examine Freud’s assumption that Moses was an Egyptian and from there explore the limits of identity. Such an unresolved, nuanced sense of identity, Said argues, might one day form the basis for a new understanding between Israelis and Palestinians.

Published here with an introduction by Christopher Bollas and a response by Jacqueline Rose.“The kind of intellectual and moral subtlety that Said calls for is quickly trampled upon as nations are made and remade. But if it doesn’t shape momentous events, it does help record them more scrupulously. Said’s influence grows more fruitfully (if slowly) on fellow academics and writers, who can no longer hope to explain the contemporary world by putting the adjective ‘ancient’ before the noun ‘hatred’; they have to work towards a better sense of the ever-changing historical conditions under which identities appear so eternal.”—Guardian

“Said’s treatment is though-provoking and addresses complex issues surrounding a work composed near the end of Freud’s lifetime. Said provides an intriguing critique of Freud’s work that is complemented by Rose’s commentary.”—Multicultural Review

“His reading of Freud‘s reading of the history of the Jewish people is undeniably brilliant, and persuades the reader yet further that the attempts by the Likudniks and fundamentalist Zionists to harden Judaism into one particular model of Zionism tied to one particular plot of land is both intellectually flawed and a betrayal of Judaism‘s pluralist history.”—Times Literary Supplement

“I heard ... Edward Said giveFreud and the Non-European