Edward Said, Cultural Politics, And Critical Theory (An Interview) (Interview‪)‬

In this interview with Alif conducted in writing in the fall of 2004, Terry Eagleton responds to questions raised concerning his work and Said's. Eagleton describes his relationship with Said and how it evolved, the occasional intersection between memoir and literary criticism (as in the case of Said's Out of Place), the overlap between nationalism and anti-colonialism, the role of Michel Foucault, Erich Auerbach, Raymond Williams, and Theodor Adorno. Eagleton comments on Said's reading of Jane Austen and Joseph Conrad, Said's style and attitude towards different contemporary theoretical and critical trends, and Said's activism. He discusses his own position concerning 'politics of form,' 'aesthetic autonomy,' and the consequence of the 'privatisation of cultural production.' **********