Biographical Timeline
1935: Edward Wadie Said is born November 1 in Talbiya,
West Jerusalem.
1947: Attended Anglican St. George’s
School in Jerusalem (for a few months).
1951: Expelled from Victoria College.
Parents send him to United States where he attends Northfield Mount Hermon
School in Massachusetts.
1957: Graduates from Princeton’s
undergraduate program with a B.A.
1960: Earns M.A. from Princeton.
1962: Marries Maire Jaanus.
1964: At Harvard, he earns a Ph.D in
English Literature.
1966: Joseph Conrad and the Fiction
of Autobiography is published.
1967: Divorces Marie Jaanus.
1970: Marries Mariam Cortas.
1977: Palestine National Council
elects Said as an independent figure.
1978: Orientalism is published.
1983: The World, the Text, and the Critic
is published.
1988: Yeats and Decolonization is
published.
1991: Becomes disillusioned with
peace talks between Palestine and Israel, and resigns from PNC. He claims
resignation was due to his declining health.
1992: Becomes professor at Columbia.
1993: Culture and Imperialism is
published. Diagnosed with leukemia.
1999: Academic, Justus Reid accuses Said of
fabricating his childhood, prompting Said to admit that he was never a refugee
as he previously claimed.
2000: Throws stones at an Israeli
guardhouse.
2003: Died September 25
“We live in one
global environment with a huge number of ecological, economic, social, and
political pressures tearing at its only dimly perceived, basically
uninterpreted and uncomprehended fabric. Anyone with even a vague consciousness
of this whole is alarmed at how such remorselessly selfish and narrow
interests— patriotism, chauvinism, ethnic, religious, and racial hatreds— can
in fact lead to mass destructiveness. The world simply cannot afford this many
more times.” -Said in Culture and Imperialism
The aforementioned quote represents Said well because it is consistent with his
racial awareness and the destruction of non-European cultures due to European
imperialism, especially in terms of the Palestinians and other Middle Eastern
peoples suffering oppression at the hands of Europeans. For example, in his
book, From Oslo to Iraq and the Roadmap, Said recalls the September 11, 2001
terrorists attacks on the United States: “This is a war against terrorism,
everyone says, but….[n]o answers are provided, except the vague suggestion that
the Middle East and Islam are what we are up again….” (108). In all, or most of
his works, Said appears to want to diminish ignorance toward the Middle East.
And he has accomplished his goals—at least in the literary field.
Said is lucky in that he had brains and a face for TV, which
is why, one can assume, he became the poster boy for all-things
Palestinian/Middle Eastern. This could be why Confino observes that “Said
portrays himself in [Out of Place] as a combatant for truth against structures
of domination” (8). This is not an isolated observation, for Treacher also
observes that “Said never felt that he wrote enough, did enough, expressed
enough for his fellow citizens. He continued to be haunted by the drive to work,
to deliver….” (2). These are important observations; they implicate how Said’s
incredible influence on the literary world came into fruition. Perhaps this
author is most celebrated for his book entitled Orientalism, a discourse that
expanded the knowledge of the Orient to Americans. On the first page, Said
says, “Americans will not feel quite the same about the Orient.” His book challenges
Western thought in exploiting the many ways in which it subjects Easterners
into being inferior.
Nevertheless, he was not without his critics. Mazrui argues against Orientalism, saying “this globalist re-invention of Africa is the ultimate repudiation of Orientalism” (81). This “re-invention” refers to the fact that the West (re)defined Africa by giving it a name, an identity, which Africans and the rest of the world have proudly come to accept. But as McCarthy puts it, when commenting on Tom Nairn’s empathetic critique of Said’s work in which Nairn depicted Said as a paradoxical figure, caught between Palestinian pride and Western Cosmopolitan education, “it was these contradictions and swerves that made Said the compelling figure he was” (197). Brennan, however reminds the reader: “Said’s authority was always ultimately literary. It is important to appreciate this fact and not underestimate it” (23). Indeed, Said’s media-ready face, his unique observations derived mostly from his British and American education, allowed him to cross-over into popular, political, and literary culture.
Nevertheless, he was not without his critics. Mazrui argues against Orientalism, saying “this globalist re-invention of Africa is the ultimate repudiation of Orientalism” (81). This “re-invention” refers to the fact that the West (re)defined Africa by giving it a name, an identity, which Africans and the rest of the world have proudly come to accept. But as McCarthy puts it, when commenting on Tom Nairn’s empathetic critique of Said’s work in which Nairn depicted Said as a paradoxical figure, caught between Palestinian pride and Western Cosmopolitan education, “it was these contradictions and swerves that made Said the compelling figure he was” (197). Brennan, however reminds the reader: “Said’s authority was always ultimately literary. It is important to appreciate this fact and not underestimate it” (23). Indeed, Said’s media-ready face, his unique observations derived mostly from his British and American education, allowed him to cross-over into popular, political, and literary culture.
Said wants to change the world by changing minds. I think this is the ultimate goal of any Postcolonial literary theorist. What makes Said stand out even more so is the fact he is one of the first Palestinians to expose European (especially American and Israeli) hypocrisy to the world. Also, he gives clear, blunt statements about European imperialism that force the reader to observe the story from both sides. As he states in Culture and Imperialism, “[T]his kind of contemporary discourse, which assumes…the complete centrality of the West, is….[that] [w]e suddenly find ourselves transported backward in time…. This imperial attitude is…captured in the complicated and rich narrative form of Conrad’s Heart of Darkness” (22). In other words, Said claims that there are some imperialist writers aware of what they were doing. In fact, he singles out Conrad, saying, “What makes Conrad different from the other colonial writers who were his contemporaries is that....he was so self-conscious about what he did” (22).
Major Works Published
-Orientalism
-Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography
-Yeats and Decolonization
-The World, the Text, and the Critic
-Culture and Imperialism
- From Oslo to Iraq and the road map
Hip-Hop Said?
Okay. Not really. But Said loved music. In fact, he had some
advanced piano skills. Not only that, he wrote four books about music.
Additionally, in 1999, he, along with Daniel Barenboim, formed the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and the
Barenboim-Said Foundation in Seville, Spain. The Divan Orchestra brings the Israeli,
Palestinian, and Arab youth together to create music. The Barenboim-Said Foundation
was created to help develop the youth by giving kids a musical education. Though Palestinian rappers have nothing to do with
Said, they still prove that music, no matter
the preference, can have a positive influence on a people. Don't believe me? Check out the following links:
Works Cited/Bibliography
Ali, A. Mazrui. "The
Re-Invention of Africa: Edward Said, V. Y. Mudimbe, and Beyond."
Research in African
Literatures 36.3 (2005): 68-82. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Americans Who Tell the Truth.
“Edward Said,” nd. Web. 2013.
Biography. “Edward Said,” 2013. Web.
2013.
Brennan, Timothy. "Edward Said and Comparative
Literature." Journal of Palestine Studies 33.3
(2004): 23-37. ProQuest Military
Collection; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Carnegiehall.
“An Introduction to the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.” YouTube. 25 Jan. 2012.
Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Confino, Alon. "Remembering Talbiyah: On Edward Said's Out of
Place." Israel Studies 5.2
(2000): 182-. ProQuest
Religion; ProQuest Research Library. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
E-notes. “Edward Said,” nd. Web.
2013. http://www.enotes.com/edward-w-said-essays/s
aid-edward-w
Encyclopedia World Biography.
“Edward Said,” nd. Web. 2013.
European Graduate School. “Edward
Said: Biography,” nd. Web. 2013.
Guerillatelevision. “Slingshot Hip Hop:
Palestinian rappers Vs occupation in Gaza.” YouTube
15, Jun. 2007. Web. 10 Mar. 2013. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uj0f8cL9ZUE
McCarthy, Conor. "The Wake of
Edward Said." College Literature 37.4 (2010): 195-
203. ProQuest Research Library. Web. 8 Mar.
2013.
Pink0f. “In Search of Palestine-Edward
Said’s Return Home.” YouTube, 17 November, 2011.
Web. 10 Mar. 2013.
Ruthven, Malise. “Edward Said: Controversial literary critic and bold
advocate of the
Palestinian cause in America,” 2003. Web. 2013.
Said, Edward. Culture and
Imperialism. New York: Random House,
1993. Kindle Edition.
-From Oslo to
Iraq and the road map. New York :
Pantheon Books, c2004. Retrieved
from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/Doc?id=10064887
-Out of Place. New York: Random House, 1999. Kindle Edition.
- Orientalism. New York: Pantheon, 1978. Kindle Edition.
Telegraph, The. “Obituary: Edward
Said,” 2003. Web. 2013
Treacher, Amal. "An
Appreciation of Edward Said." Feminist Review.75 (2003): 1-2. ProQuest
Research Library. Web. 8 Mar. 2013.
Tumblr Media. “Edward Said Picture,”
nd. 10 Mar. 2013.
http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhow6xbm371qb1quio1_400.jpg
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