Western Armenian translation of Orientalism by Edward Said Released
In the framework of the Calouste Gulbenkian Translation Series project, the Western Armenian translation of Orientalism by Edward Said has been published․
Translators – Raffi Ajemian, Minas Lourian, Marc Nichanian
Publisher – Newmag
Read below the biographies of the translator, the author, and a short information about the book. summary of the book.
About the Book
In this extensive, intellectually influential study, Said presents the history of Orientalism. The West, which had long dominated in the Near and Middle East, viewed the East from a superior position, labeling it “Orient,” that is, “different, other” from the West. This groundbreaking book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential studies on the subject in the fields of cultural studies as well as postcolonial studies. Said was a critic of the concept of “Orientalism,” seeing in it the totality of the West’s false assumptions about the East. Through this book, he exposes Eurocentric prejudices against Arab-Islamic peoples and cultures, showing how false and mythologized perceptions of Asia and the Middle East, rooted in Western culture, serve to justify the colonial and imperial ambitions of Europe and the United States.
Edward Said
Edward W. Said (1935–2003) was an American scholar, literary critic, and politician of Palestinian descent, and a professor of literary studies at Columbia University in New York City. As a cultural critic, Said is best known for his book Orientalism (1978), in which he presents how the West perceives the East. As an intellectual, Said was a controversial member of the Palestinian National Council, as he publicly criticized Israel and Arab countries, especially Islamic regimes, whose policies he considered worked against the national interests of their own peoples. Said was an advocate for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Raffi Ajemian
Born in Beirut, Raffi settled in Montreal in 1987. He graduated from the local Concordia University with a degree in engineering. He also took philosophy courses at the same university. Raffi Ajemian’s first writings were published in the literary supplement of the weekly newspaper “Horizon” starting from 1994. He has been included in the editorial staff of the above-mentioned weekly, as well as the Los Angeles-based “Open Letter” periodical. He has worked in various literary magazines and newspapers such as “Bagin”, “Harach”, “Inknagir” and Mark Nichanian’s “Kam” magazine.
Minas Lourian
Minas Lourian, Director of the Center for Armenian Culture Studies and Documentation. Born in Beirut, Lebanon, he did part of his musical studies there, then moved to Venice in 1980 to continue his studies. Since 1987, he began to work with Veneto Musica and several other music societies, institutions, and international festivals of early and contemporary, classical and jazz music, as a founder, coordinator, or director. The recording studio founded by Lourian in 1991, created a complete sound archive of the orally transmitted Armenian medieval sacred chant repertoire, conserved since the beginning of the 18th century in San Lazzaro, by the Armenian Mekhitarist Congregation. Between 2016-2019, he was the president of the Italian-Armenian community representative board (Unione degli Armeni d’Italia).
Marc Nichanian
Marc Nichanian, a philosopher, literary critic and translator. Nichanian was born in France, and specialized in Armenian Studies and Philosophy. Nichanian has taught at a number of important Universities in France, Italy, the USA, Turkey and Armenia. He has a long bibliography of published books, both translations and his own works on literature, philosophy, and the humanities. In 1980, he founded KAM (ԿԱՄ), an analytical journal, which has been published with interruptions between 1980 and 1986, then in 2000’s, and is currently being published again since 2020. Nichanian now resides in Lisbon, Portugal.
