This essay examines Edward Said's philosophy of intellectual life and what an intellectual vocation entails. Said's major contribution, Orientalism , is discussed in light of his own concept of ““traveling theory”” and its impact on various disciplines, especially postcolonial studies. Said's views on Palestine and the Palestinians are also elaborated and contextualized in his own oeuvre. Finally, the essay discusses Said's interest in musical performance and attempts to read his work ““musically,”” showing how all his interests are part of a larger whole that constitutes his intellectual legacy.

This article surveys the history of songs about Palestine from 1948 to the present, examining how the changes in musical style and lyrics correspond to the changes in the exigencies of the Palestinian struggle itself. Tracing the primacy of revolutionary Egypt in the 1950s and 1960s, the central role of Fayruz and the Rahbani brothers in the wake of the 1967 war, and the emergence of Palestinian groups and singers as of the late 1960s, the article provides historical and political analyses of these songs as central features of how Arab popular culture has dealt, and continues to deal, with the Palestine tragedy.

This article explores various aspects of Israel's implicit linkage of the Jewish holocaust with its right to exist and Palestinian and Arab responses to that linkage. The PLO's position in particular is examined in detail, as is Israel's rhetorical equation of Arab and Palestinian leaders with Nazis. The article also examines Edward Said's position on the topic, which generated considerable debate in the Arabic press.

This review of the works of novelist Ahdaf Soueif explores the major aesthetic and political themes of her novels and short stories. Soueif's honesty in exploring questions of sexual desire, intercultural dialogue, and the politics of language are further examined in the accompanying interview.

This review of the works of the influential Egyptian film director Youssef Chahine brings to light his role as a daring and versatile artist, social critic, and cultural archivist, whose films and documentaries, in addition to being entertaining, provide an insight into the Arab world. The accompanying interview adds background and dimension to Chahine's life and oeuvre.