Chiran Pandey (Nepal)

Chiran graduated from New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) in 2020 with a BA in Literature. He wrote his undergraduate thesis on the particular confluences of race, aesthetic theory, gender, and history in the novel Open City by Teju Cole. His many scholarly interests include theories of world literature, the history of critical theory in the 20th century, aesthetics, race, and the intersections between politics and literature.

During his MSt in World Literatures in English, Chiran plans to work on the extraordinary body of literary, critical, and political thought produced by the Palestinian American scholar Edward Said. Said’s career was determined by his activism for Palestine and the overwhelming success (and the polemical opposition inspired by it) of his singular work Orientalism. Chiran believes that these two stories have eclipsed some of Said’s most nuanced writings on what he called “critical consciousness.” Through his work on Said, Chiran hopes to reflect on the history and future of literary study and in particular on the state and theories of world and postcolonial literature.

Chiran was born and grew up in Kathmandu, Nepal. Apart from his scholarly interests, he has developed a particular obsession with the Nintendo game “Super Smash Bros.” He plays, in a mediocre fashion, the piano and, occasionally, tennis.