Difference between revisions of "Edward Said"
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| − | '''Edward Said''' (1935-2003) was a [[Palestinian]]-American literary scholar and political activist. He is best known for his 1978 book ''[[Orientalism]]''. | + | '''Edward Said''' (1935-2003) was a [[Palestinian]]-American literary scholar and political activist on the left. He is best known for his 1978 book ''[[Orientalism]]''. |
| − | Said did not comment on whether anyone could deal honestly and fairly with Asia, for he was taking a general postmodern view that complete analysis is never possible, that Orientalism is misguided and uncritically "essentialist' when it assumes there is such as thing as the Orient in the first place. | + | Said was brought up a Christian (not Muslim), but became non-religious. He was educated in British schools in Egypt then at American prep schools, Princeton and Harvard; he spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City; he was active in Palestinian politics. |
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| + | In ''Oreientalism'' Said attacked and ridiculed all western scholarship on Islam and the Mideast, arguing it was all written in the service of imperialism. Said did not comment on whether anyone could deal honestly and fairly with Asia, for he was taking a general postmodern view that complete analysis is never possible, that Orientalism is misguided and uncritically "essentialist' when it assumes there is such as thing as the Orient in the first place. | ||
==see also== | ==see also== | ||
Revision as of 04:31, November 3, 2009
Edward Said (1935-2003) was a Palestinian-American literary scholar and political activist on the left. He is best known for his 1978 book Orientalism.
Said was brought up a Christian (not Muslim), but became non-religious. He was educated in British schools in Egypt then at American prep schools, Princeton and Harvard; he spent his entire academic career at Columbia University in New York City; he was active in Palestinian politics.
In Oreientalism Said attacked and ridiculed all western scholarship on Islam and the Mideast, arguing it was all written in the service of imperialism. Said did not comment on whether anyone could deal honestly and fairly with Asia, for he was taking a general postmodern view that complete analysis is never possible, that Orientalism is misguided and uncritically "essentialist' when it assumes there is such as thing as the Orient in the first place.
see also
Further reading
- Kennedy, Valerie. Edward Said: A Critical Introduction (2000), 192pp; useful introduction [http://www.amazon.com/Edward-Said-Critical-Introduction-Contemporary/dp/0745620183/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257203191&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search
- Warraq, Ibn. Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's Orientalism (2007) a conservative critique
Primary sources
- Said, Edward. The Edward Said Reader ed. by Moustafa Bayoumi and Andrew Rubin (2000) ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257203018&sr=1-1 excerpt and text search