8/11/2015 AijazAhmadWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AijazAhmad
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

AijazAhmadisawellknownMarxist
literarytheoristandpoliticalcommentator
basedinIndia.

BorninthestateofUttarPradesh,India
justbeforeitgainedindependencefrom
Britishrule,AijazAhmadalongwithhis
parentsmigratedtoPakistanfollowing
partition.Afterhiseducationheworkedin
variousuniversitiesinUSandCanada.At
presentAijazAhmadisProfessorialFellow
attheCentreofContemporaryStudies,
NehruMemorialMuseumandLibrary,
NewDelhiandisvisitingProfessorof
PoliticalScienceatYorkUniversity,
Toronto.Healsoworksasaneditorial
consultantwiththeIndiannewsmagazine
Frontlineandasaseniornewsanalystfor AijazAhmad,deliveringthe11thAnnualEMSMemorial
theIndianwebsiteNewsclick. LecturehostedbytheStudents'FederationofIndia(SFI)in
JNU,NewDelhi,April2013.
Books
1. InTheory:Classes,Nations,LiteraturesVerso
2. LineagesofthePresent:IdeologicalandPoliticalGenealogiesofContemporarySouthAsia
3. Iraq,AfghanistanandtheImperialismofOurTimeLeftWordBooks,NewDelhi
4. OnCommunalismandGlobalizationOffensivesoftheFarRightThreeEssaysCollective,New
Delhi
5. ASingularVoice:CollectedWritingsofMichaelSprinkerEditor(withFredPfeiland
ModhumitaRoy)
6. InOurTime:Empire,Politics,Culture

InhisbookInTheory:Classes,Nations,Literatures,Ahmadprimarilydiscussestheroleoftheoryand
theoristsinthemovementagainstcolonialismandimperialism.Ahmad'sargumentagainstthosewho
upholdpoststructuralismandpostmodernistconceptionsofmaterialhistoryrevolvesaroundthefactthat
verylittlehasbeenaccomplishedsincetheadventofthisbrandofpostcolonialinquiry.Thebook
containsanespeciallypolemicalcritiqueofFredericJameson'sargumentin'ThirdWorldLiteraturein
theEraofMultinationalCapitalism"whereAhmadattacksJamesononthegroundsthatJameson's
argumentisinsufficientlytheorizedinitsuseoftermslike"ThirdWorld"whichappearstobedefined
purelyintermsofitsexperienceofcolonialism.ThisinturnleadsJamesontomakehastyanduntenable
generalizationsabouthowall"thirdworldliterature'wouldnecessarilyfunctionasanationalallegory
thataccordingtoJamesonworksasresistancetoasystemofglobalpostmodernism.HoweverAhmadin
hisbookexpresseshischagrinathowhiscritiqueofJamesonhasbeenappropriatedbyPostcolonial
scholarsasanattackonMarxism,whileAhmadcontendsthathetakesissuewithJamesonsimply
becausehisuseofMarxismintheessayonThirdWorldLiteratureisnotrigorousenough.Thebook
alsocontainsalengthycritiqueofEdwardSaid'sOrientalismwhichAhmadarguesreproducesthevery
LiberalHumanisttraditionthatitseekstoundermineinitsselectionofWesterncanonizedtextsthatare
critiquedfortheirOrientalism,asthisupholdstheideathatWesterncultureisrepresentedinitsentirety

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aijaz_Ahmad 1/2
8/11/2015 AijazAhmadWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

throughthoseverytexts.FurthermoreAhmadassertsthatbytracingOrientalistthoughtallthewayback
toAncientGreeceitbecomesunclearinSaid'sworkwhetherOrientalismisaproductofColonialism,or
whetherColonialismis,infact,aproductofOrientalism.

Externallinks
AijazAhmad,'Islam,IslamismsandtheWest'(http://www.iran
bulletin.org/political%20islam/SR_08_Ahmad_0.pdf)(onlineversionofarticlefortheSocialist
Register2008).
AijazAhmadvideo(http://www.socialistproject.ca/theory/sr2008.html)ontheSocialistProject
website(http://www.socialistproject.ca).
AijazAhmadvideo(http://therealnews.com/web/index.php?
thisdataswitch=0&thisid=620&thisview=item)ontheRealNewswebsite
(http://www.therealnews.com)Iran:IAEAreportsparkscontroversy.

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Categories: Livingpeople Indiancommunists Indianhistorians Literarytheorists Marxistwriters

Marxisttheorists Urduscholars Urducritics Muhajirpeople PakistaniexpatriatesinIndia

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