Edward Said

Edward Said was a leading literary critic and a professor of English and comparative literature who lived from 1935-2003. He is best known as a founder of postcolonial studies as an academic field and for his 1978 book Orientalism.

Edward Said biography

Edward Said was born on November 1st 1935 to Hilda and Wadie Said in Jerusalem, Mandatory Palestine. His father, Wadie Said was Palestinian however earned American Citizenship for himself and his family by joining the American Expeditionary forces during World War One.

Edward Said: Early life and education

At age 11, in 1947, Said began studying at St George's School in Jerusalem. This school followed a British style of education, and the majority of teachers were Anglican Christians.

In his 2002 essay 'Between Worlds', Said commented on his sense of identity whilst growing up;

Said continued his education at Victoria College, a European-style school. The school was designed to educate the upper-class youth of the region, and train them to become postcolonial politicians who would guide the decolonisation process. In 1951, Said was expelled from Victoria College for his rebellious behaviour and he moved to Northfield Mount Hermon Boarding School in Massachusetts, U.S.A.

Said graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon as one of the top students in his class. He went on to study at Princeton University and graduated with an A.B. in English in 1957. In 1960, Said achieved a Master of Arts from Harvard University, from where he later achieved a Doctor of Philosophy in 1964.

From 1963 up until his death in 2003, Said taught at Columbia University. Alongside teaching at Columbia, Said was a visiting professor at Harvard in 1974, and a Fellow at Stanford University between 1975 and 1976.

Edward Said: Political legacy

Alongside his academic legacy, Said also left a mark on Middle-Eastern politics. In 1979, Said published his essay 'Zionism from the Standpoint of its Victims'. This essay underpinned Said's belief in the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, arguing for the political and philosophical legitimacy of Zionist claims to a Jewish homeland, alongside the right the Palestinian people have for self-determination.

Said produced multiple works on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including; The Question of Palestine (1979), The Politics of Dispossession (1994), and The End of the Peace Process (2000).

Said remained involved in politics up to the end of his life. In 2003, while sick with leukaemia, Said heavily critiqued the U.S invasion of Iraq.

Edward Said books

Edward Said's first work was published in 1966 and was titled Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography. Notable works by Said include:

• The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983).
• Culture and Imperialism (1993)
• Humanism and Democratic Criticism (2004)

Said's most famous work is Orientalism (1978). This book established Said as a literary and cultural critic, with its examination of how the West perceives the East and the narratives of this perception.

Edward Said Orientalism (1978)

Orientalism explores how the Western world has represented Middle Eastern culture and society in their academic study, art, and literature. Said argued that in Western depictions of the East there is a;

Said gave the term orientalism to the Western portrayals and perceptions of the Middle East. Defining orientalism as;

In his examination of Western depictions of this Middle East, Said highlights how literature, and writing, influence the politics of culture, language, and power. The interaction between power and knowledge in the context of Orientalism led Said to describe this concept as a 'discourse'.

In Orientalism Said argued that through representations, or misrepresentations, of the Middle East in literature and art, the West justified its imperial policies. Therefore, the root of the misrepresentation of the Middle East in Western academics was the colonial ambitions of Europe and the U.S.A. The false, romanticised images of the Middle East in Western academics, presented the colonial subaltern as in need of being 'cared for' by a paternal, colonial body, as they were unable to think, or speak, for themselves.

Edward Said and Postcolonialism

Orientalism became one of the founding texts of postcolonial studies, which emerged as a form of academic study in the 1980s.

In Orientalism, Said critiqued the academic study of the 'Orient'. Said argued that the study of the 'Orient' by the West was not a form of objective academic study. Instead, this study was an example of political intellectualism intended to affirm Western scholar's European identity, promoting colonial values. The existence of Oriental scholarship, dominated and controlled by Westerners, rested upon the assumption that Eastern scholars were incapable of documenting their histories and cultures.

Due to the nature of Orientalism as an academic school, Said argued that cultural representations of the East by Oriental scholars could not be considered as true or accurate.

Orientalism and the 'Other'

In Orientalism, Said presented the concept of the 'Other'. Arguing that the identity and existence of every culture relies on the existence of a different 'other' culture. Through this concept of the 'Other', Said argued that to create their own culture and sense of self, the West constructed the culture of the Middle East as the 'other'. This construction of Middle Eastern culture occurred in European academies and therefore does not align with the reality of Middle Eastern culture.

Edward Said quotes

'Blind Imperial Arrogance', Los Angeles Times (2003)

In a 2003 Los Angeles Times article, Said critiqued the United States of America's 'imperial perspective' and approach to politics in the Middle East. Although the U.S doesn't have the same colonial history as England, France, and other European nations, Said highlights how the nation's attempts to 'reform' the Middle East are imperialistic in nature. Commenting on this, and the damaging effects of U.S intervention, Said writes;

Orientalism (1978), 'Orientalism Now'

In the chapter of Orientalism titled 'Orientalism Now' Said discusses how Orientalists such as Lawrence of Arabia have produced a 'we' and a 'they' in their study of 'the orient'. This divide between the West and the East is based on the 'main issue' of;

Orientalism (1978), 'Afterword'

In the 1995 edition of Orientalism Said added an afterword that addressed some of the critiques Orientalism had received when it was first published.

In this section of the afterword, Said addresses how Orientalists prescribed 'essential' qualities to peoples, which were unchangeable and often inferior to European qualities. Said opposes the idea that identity can be defined by 'essential' unchanging qualities, arguing instead that;