edward said - resourse pack

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Biography



Edward Said was born 1 November 1935 in Jerusalem which was at the time of his birth was the British mandate of Palestine.

His father was already an American Citizen as he had lived and worked in the United states before returning to Jerusalem.

Edward Said was born into a wealthy background “privileged yet marginal, wealthy yet powerless.”

As a boy Said’s home was split between Jerusalem and Cairo.

In 1947 Said reports attending St Georges academy, though this has been debated by his critics who claim that there is no record of him studying there and that he fabricated this story to make his beliefs more credible.

A year later in 1948 however Edwards family were forced to move to Egypt as refugees when the west of Jerusalem including their home in Talbiya was taken by Israel.

Said was then educated in British public schools populated mostly by wealthy Arabs many of whom went on to become powerful leaders and businessmen.

At 15 Said was sent to Mount Herman school in Massachusetts for a year where he reports in his publishing Between Worlds feeling “out of place.”

The next phase in his education saw him gain a BA at Princeton university in 1957 and a MA and PhD from Harvard University where he studied from 1960-1964.

Said spent most of his working life working at Columbia University as Professor of English and Comparative Literature he reached the rank of University Professor in 1992.

Edward said also taught at Harvard, Yale and John Hopkins.

Said devoted the first thirty years of his life in education, and it wasn’t until 1967 when the Arabs were defeated that he took interest in the politics of his homeland.

Said has written around twenty books, these writings have been translated into 26 different languages.

Edward Said’s first book was Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography which was published in 1966.

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Said was then educated in British public schools populated mostly by wealthy Arabs many of whom went on to become powerful leaders and businessmen.

At 15 Said was sent to Mount Herman school in Massachusetts for a year where he

reports in his publishing Between Worlds feeling “out of place.”

The next phase in his education saw him gain a BA at Princeton university in 1957 and a MA and PhD from Harvard University where he studied from 1960-1964.

Said spent most of his working life working at Columbia University as Professor of English and Comparative Literature he reached the rank of University Professor in 1992.

Edward said also taught at Harvard, Yale and John Hopkins.

Said devoted the first thirty years of his life in education, and it wasn’t until 1967 when the Arabs were defeated that he took interest in the politics of his homeland.

Said has written around twenty books, these writings have been translated into 26 different languages.

Edward Said’s first book was Joseph Conrad and the Fiction of Autobiography which was published in 1966.



His most influential book the Orientalism was published in 1978 and looks at the

western ideals of the east.

His also wrote many article for The Nation, The Guardian, the London Review of Books, Le Monde

Diplomatique, Counterpunch, and Al Ahram.

Edward Said has since wrote many published works a list of which can be viewed at http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~scctr/Wellek/said/index.html.

In 1970 Edward Said married Mariam Cortas who later gave him both a son and a daughter.

In 1977 Edward Said joined the Palestinian National Council (PNC), but quit in 1991 when the PNC signed the Oslo Accords.

Edward Said other great passion was for music especially the piano which he played to a professional standard, this lead him to co-found the West-East Divan Orchestra in 1999.

Edward Said could speak English, French and Arabic fluently and in 1999 served as president of the Modern Language Association.

In 1999 Edward Said won the New Yorker Prize for non fiction for his book Out of Place.

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In 2000 Said caused controversy when he was photographed throwing a stone across

the Lebanon Israeli border which may have been aimed at Israeli soldiers.

Edward Said died at the age of 67 on the 25 of September 2003 after suffering with leukaemia for a decade.

In an Obituary written by Malise Ruthven for The Guardian, Said was described as “An intellectual superstar in America, he distinguished himself as an opera critic, pianist, television celebrity, politician, media expert, popular essayist and public lecturer.”

His love of music was recognised after his death when in 2004 in the renaming of Birzeit University music school to the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music.

Unsurprisingly Said’s loudly outspoken views earned him many enemies sending him death threats, and who once burned down his office.

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Terms used in orientalism:

The orient:This does not always just refer to ‘the orient’ as a place but also represents a number of political influences on western consciousness, its learning and its empire. The term orient was created by the west to create an inferior mirror image of itself.

Orientalism:is a collection of biases created by the west and its scholars.

The oriental:a vague generalisation or stereotype of the east which is used in many countries and areas around the world.

Latent Orientalism:This is the certainity within peoples minds as to what the orient is, that it is separate from ‘us’ different and inferior.

Orientalism



Image depicting French orientalism by the Painter and artist Alexandre Cabanel. Entitled Cleopatre testant ses poisons sur des condemnes

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Said’s definition of Orientalism is the western view of the eastern world, created by western (mainly British, North American and French) scholars and academics as a fictional and direct opposite to west. My whole point about this system is not that it is a misrepresentation of some Oriental essence - in which I do not for a moment believe - but that it operates as representations usually do, for a purpose, according to a tendency, in a specific historical, intellectual, and even economic setting (p. 273)

Figure 1 is a painting by Gerome, this represents what Said means by orientalism, this is not a true depiction of the Orient but instead an imagined image, although it has been taken as fact by many academics world wide.

Said argues in his book Orientalism that the divides between the east and the west are not as clear as they are thought, but however these divides have been heightened for the benefits of western politics allowing the west to colonise in the east mainly in Countries such as India, Algeria and Egypt

He believes that this has occurred because the east is fundamentally different to the West this was seen as a weakness and was what allowed the west to colonise.

Figure 1. Painting by Jean-Leon GeromeEntitled Grand White Eunuch



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An image used on the cover of a publication of said Orientalism. This again shows an untrue romanticizedrepresentation of the orient and Asia.

Said critises the works of authors such as Edward William Lane, who only spent a couple of years in Egypt but returned with a book was is know widely regarded across Europe as ‘the truth about Egypt’

In this book Said describes a romanticized and misunderstood far and middle east.

He goes as fair in this book as to state that both the middle and far east a viewed with prejudice and racism because the occident (countries of the west, as distinct from the orient)do not understand their own history and culture.

Said Argues that the orient, as well as being Europe’s closest neighbour, is where the west gained its greatest, richest and oldest colonies. From these colonies they achieved civilization and languages.

‘The Orient has helped to define Europe (or the west) as its contrasting image, idea, personality and experience.’

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There is a whole artistic Movement now known as the Orientalism movement. The Artists within this movementCreated striking images of Egypt and Arabia, Artists inThis movement include, Tadema, Gerome, Haag and Bridgman

Early orientalism began in 19th Century. When western Scholars beganto translate texts from oriental languages as a result of this they felt that they understood ‘it’ and therefore owned it as they were a more efficient and effective Community.

The ‘west’ represented Europe, (primarily Britain and France) as well as America. The ‘orient’ is theWhole of the rest of the world, the ‘other.’ this is a huge area encompassing, the middle east, Asia and China. Said could not understand how one generalisation could be usedto refer to more than half of the globe.

During this time the orient was often see as the weak, the feminine and the defenseless. A place was needing protection and control from a more intelligent more powerful western world.

The most important point that said raises in this book is that the orient does not exist in the way it is perceived by the west.

Culture and imperialism

Chapter 1

In the first chapter of Said’s book he speaks of people from the Western part of the world, (ie Britain, France, etc) how they claim land and property from the Eastern part (ie Australia, India, Africa, etc) He then moves on to speak of how Britain and France claimed immense amount of territory all over the world, and then how they, 1 by 1, became independent once again. He speaks of how all countries are linked and help one another through trade, travel, electronic communicators, etc. According to said “This set of patterns was first established and made possible by the modern empires”.

He moves on to speak of population- in America how it will expand in population and in territory, and increase in strength and power.

To quote Edward Said, “As I shall be using the term, ‘imperialism’ means the practice, the theory, and the attitudes of a dominating metropolitan centre ruling a distant territory; ‘colonialism’, which is almost always a consequence of imperialism, is the implanting of settlements on distant territory.” (Culture and imperialism, page 8)

… Continued

Chapter 2

In this chapter, he refers to the story ‘Mansfield Park’, by Jane Austin. Written in 1814, the story refers to the slave trade and Colonial’s. He describes the book in great detail and how it relates to his theory giving a full explanation about her novel.

By page 115 he speaks of the audience’s reactions to the book and gives his thoughts on the novel, how she can se how the slave trade is wrong and cruel, but it is the way of life so there is nothing that can be done to change that, according to Said.



Covering IslamQuickTime™ and a

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Islamic flag

Said Feels that the western world and especiallyAmerica views Islam and its world as Antipathetically troubled and problematic.

The term Islam is used too loosely, a simplifiedIdeological label and its usage does not reflect the varied life that goes on in the world of Islam.

The media makes the world of Islam ‘known’ by characterizing and analyzing it. It therefore takes some ownership of it, much as how the occident takes ownership of the orient in Said principle of orientalism.

‘there is an unquestioned assumption that islam can be charaterised limitlessly by a means of a handful of recklessly general and repeatedly deployed chliche’s. And always it is supposed that the ”islam” being talked about is some real and stabel object out there where “our” oil supplies happen to be found.’

Said states that Islam has always represented a peculiar menace to the west

He feels that the Orientalists cliches have been exposed through the turbulence in the Muslim world.

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This is the flag of the Islamic courts union. Although a completely innocent symbol the west would judge this as something unknown thus potentially dangerous.

Said feels that to criticise western abuse of Islam is not to deny or condone this abuses.

A Muslim doctrine has been used on many occations as a justification by the west to repress societies and remove people liberties.

Various groups in western society have an interest in Islam. The most notable of these is the USA who have a union of power bearing upon Islam. This power allows control over their governments, media and corporations, to name but a few. If the

Islam world conflicts with these powers manipulative aims can be realised for example mobilisation can begin for a possible invasion.

Said asks the question ‘can there really be such a thing as Islamic behaviour?’He does not believe in the notion of Islam as firmly as other experts and policy makers.

The goal of the book is to critically ‘disentangle sense from nonsense’

Islam in the newsIslam in the west

A Com Ed commercial to encourage a move towards alternative energy sources showed images of Arabic figures linked to the oil industry

with the slogan ‘these men control America’s oil’. As if they are villians in the grip of sadism. The advert was designed to buy into attitudes of fear and anger towards such figures who represent ‘Islam’.

Islam represents a formidable competitor and a latecoming challenge to Christianity

In 1978 America felt particularly threatened by Iran because it had a lot of power, however this was not the main reason for the states to fear Iron there was a dramatic rise in prices of oil and Iran suddenly occupied centre stage in all political discussion etc.

Muslims are often characterised by the media as incorrect generalisations and stereotypes such as oil suppliers, terrorists and the blood thirsty mob.

‘inconography of Islam was uniformally ubiquitous, and drew its material from the same time honoured view of Islam.

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In an interview for Newsweek on August 18th 1980 , V.S. Naipul, said ‘ Muslim fundamentaism has no substance to it, therefore it must collapse.’ It would appear that Islam is used to cover everything and anything that the western world does not approve of.

This so called ‘stronger, more efficient and developed world’ does not associate hum motivations in relation to Islam, nor does it consider human weakness, political competition or history.

The Muslim world is wide and very diverse and yet it is still reduced to the word ‘Islam’ this word through media representation has only negative meaning to people of the western world, it emplies terrorism, oppreshion and dictatorship.

Why is it that the west has found it so easy to make the Muslim world so appear in a way that is not so true of the soviet union for example?

Islam is an imprecise and ideologically loadedLabel. However so is christianity or the west.Muslims speak of Islam. Christians speak of Christianity. Labels are ingrained and not rejected by the people they describe.

These labels are an integral part of cultural history and cannot be ignored or deleted. However we shouldn’t always consider them to be objective classifications. They are interpretations and we should keep this in mind.

Palestine Said as a political figure.

Said is a famous spokesperson for the Palestinian cause.

He spent most of his life in the U.S. and only the first few years in Palestine he however still feels very connected to it. In interviews and articles referring to cause of Palestinians he uses the term “we” showing that he identifies himself as a member of these people.

He was forced out of Palestine as a refugee but still feels a connection with it despite having a limited experience, and being brought up in a westernised way.

For many years he buried his head in the sand over issues concerning Palestine, concentrating on his work as a lecturer in western literature. However he became more interested during the Vietnam war. He Tried no numerous occasions to bring up the issue of the middle east but it was an incontinent subject. The ongoing injustices inflicted on the Palestinians inspired him to speak up about the issue. He has campaigned in an academic way writing books and articles which brought attention to the issue.

Said believes that refugees are a core issue and that the “Zionist movement has done everything in its power to ensure that the majority of the Palestinians remain outside their native land” he also believes that it is important to reduce the political

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existence of those who have remained to a bare minimum.

He thinks that Palestinians aren’t standing up for themselves, and holding onto their history. “our collective memory seems to be blank, as if the past never happened and will never return” Dismayed by Palestinian defeatism, he wants more Palestinian academics to express the complexity of the situation so it becomes less controversial to question the Israeli occupation.

The Israeli occupation has caused an abuse of human rights. Every Israel government since 1948 has allowed:

o Tortureo Missile Assaults against civilianso Helicopters and Jet fighterso Transportation of civilians for imprisonmento Mass killingo Denial aof unimpeded movemento Humiliationo Punishment of familieso Destruction of houseso Illegal settlemento Killing on U.N. personnel

The U.S. has supplied Israel with weapons, intelligence and massive financial aid so is also culpable.

… Continued (the Oslo Agreement) Said has written several articles criticising the Oslo agreement which was signed by Yassah Arafat in 1996.

Agreement covered : sovereignty, land, resources, security and Palestinian refugees.

Said believes that the Oslo agreement made things worse for the Palestinians because it gave Israelis and supporters of Israel a sense that the Palestinian problem had been completely solved. The agreement also gave liberals a sense of achievement so that focus would be diverted from the issue. This was in turn made even move difficult for the Palestinians to accept “ anything except appreciation for what had been done for them by Oslo, Clinton, Rabin and the rest even though unemployment in Gaza had reason at time to 60 per cent, and the closure of the West bank and Gaza had demonstrated that Israeli occupation practises had remained unchanged.”

Said is not against a peace process. He is against one which is laden with inequality as to completely compromise the Palestinian position and then put closure on it.

“I had no problem at all with the prospects of real peace and real coexistence and had been speaking about those for twenty years; what I, and most Palestinians opposed was a phony peace and our continued inequality in regard to the Israelis, who are allowed sovereignty, territorial integrity, and self-determination, whereas we are not.”

… Continued (the Oslo Agreement)

Said blames Yassah Arafat personally for signing the crippling Oslo agreements. He believes that the leader could not have understood for the document was long (400 pages) and complex. So that he would have tied himself into things without realising. Said also believed that “Yasah Arafat and this tight circle of politically appointed loyalists are not capable of comprehending and dealing with the immense complexities of the Palestinian situation.”

Palestinian negotiating style has been flawed partly because of it is disorganised and they have a lack of detailed knowledge which gives them less authority. They have inferior maps, statistics and experts and a lack of up to the minute knowledge.

Said Believes that Arafat has acquired too much power for himself. Thinks that Arafat has bought off and scared off opponents and that those who appeared to stand independently of him now are great supporters

He thinks that Palestinians should be more openly critical of their leader and encourage more debate because “criticism heightens awareness and recalls leaders to their constituency”. He goes as far as to say that “Criticism of authority is a moral duty. Silence, indifference or compliance in such a situation is immoral.” The Palestinians should hold Arafat to account more when he makes such big decisions.”

… Continued (the Oslo Agreement)

In fact when Arafat met Said1972 and was very impressed with him, he proceeded to meet him on several occasions over 8 years but it became clear that he typed Said as an American and couldn’t really understand what he was trying to do. Said too became disenchanted with him.

“There is a simple racist premise underpinning the “peace process” and subsequent rhetorical ambushed set in its name that Palestinian and Arab lives are not worth as much as Israeli Jewish lives”

He feels that signing a peace agreement on such terms was the worse thing to do because the conditions are so unfair that it can never guarantee peace but by signing it could allow the issue to be swept under the carpet. Israel cannot pretend to claim peace unless a high profile politician like Arafat signs a document saying as much. So if peace is not the reality such a document should not be signed.

Tasks to do to in Palestine to further the cause of the Palestinians:-Ascertain an accurate figure of how many Palestinians live outside Palestine and have lost property to Israel.-Create a think tank for the purposes of devising strategies surrounding land and geography, water, property, economically - --Articulate a set of nonnegotiable principles assuring the rights of the Palestinians

Books

- Beyond the storm: a gulf crisis reader (voices and visions - new thinking for the new century series (Edward Said, Phyllis Bennis, and Michael Moushabeck)

-Blaming the victims: spurious scholarship and the Palestinian question (Edward Said and Christopher Hitchens)

-Conversations with Edward said (Edward Said and Tariq Ali)

- Covering Islam: how the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world

- Culture and imperialism

- Cultures and resistance: conversations with Edward Said (David Barsamian and Edward Said)

- Freud: and the non-european

- Humanism and democratic criticism

- Nationalism colonialism and literature (Terry eagleton, Fredric Jameson, Edward Said and Seamus Deane)

- On late style: music and literature against the Grain

- Orientalism

Books and articles by Said



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- Orientalism: western conceptions of the orient (Penguin- modern classics)

- Out of place: a memoir

- Palestine (Joe Sacco and Edward Said)

- Parallels and paradoxes : explorations in music and society (Edward Said and Daniel Barendoim

- Power, politics and culture: interviews with Edward Said

- Reflections on exile: and other literary cultural essays

- Representations of the intellectuals (the Reith lectures, 1993)

- Said: The world the text and critic

- The end of the peace process: Oslo and after (vintage)

- The question of Palestine

Books and articles about Said

Articles-New left review :- displaced persons-Al Ahram :- Edward Said: A contrapuntal reading-Daniel Barenboim.com :- The masestro-The Guardian :- Edward Said: The last interview-Al Ahram :- Living in Arabic-The Irish Times (TESA):- Harmony across the great divide-Palestine Chronicle :- the political legacy-ISIM :- Edward Said and Islam-ISIM :- Edward Said in the netherlands-ISIM :- Edward Said and palestine-ISIM :- Edward Said and Eqbal Ahmad-Malaysia Kimi :- in defence Edward Said-The Crimson :- Panel reflects on Said’s legacy, Orientalism-Globalcomment.com :- Edward said, the emperor is dead-The Daily times :- Demoralisation of intellectual life-Counterpunt :- confronting the evangelical imperialists-The nation :- a configuration-Amin :- the piano man made it home, an ode to Edward Said- Little India :- Voice of the voicelessTo read all these articles and more go to www.edwardsaid.org

People influenced by Said

Edward Said influenced a large number of people some of whom include:

Hamid DamishiDabashi is an Iranian-American, a critic of history, culture and literature. He has made many contribution to Iran as well as world cinema and shi’a Islam through postcolonialism.Dabashi was friend’s and colleagues with Said. Said spoke of him as a perfect guide to Islam and in particular Iran.One of his most famous writings is a book entitled the end of Islam Ideology this was heavily praised by many encluding Said himself.

Hamid DamishiHomi K. BhabhaJohn EspositoGayatric Spivak

Robert FiskMahmood MamdaniJoseph MassahMustafa Barghouti



… ContinuedHomi K. BhabhaBhabha is a theorist in post-colonialism, and Is currently lecturing at Harvard University.He states that Edward Said is the single mostinfluential person in his work.In his many works he argues that there is anidentity shared amongst ex-colonial states, and the ‘senses of nationhood are narrativized’In his book the location of culture, he attacks the western production of binary oppositions these include enlightened/ignorant and Civilised/savage.

John EspositoIs a professor of international affairs and international studies.Said is hugely influencial to Esposito and it is often said that if it was not for Said’s book orientalism the sympathetic texts on islam would not be in such demand, and we would remain uncontaminated by anti-americanisms.





… Continued (Mustafa Barghouti)



Candidate for presidency of the Palestinian National AuthorityBorn in Jerusalem and now lives in Ramallah.Founded “Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Conference providing healthcare to the Gaza strip.Has criticised the Palestinian Authority of corruption and terrorism.Barghouti is the secretary of the society Palestinian National InitiativeIn 2005 was a candidate for presidency of the Palestinian National Authority. Ran as an independent candidate in the presidential face to succed Yasah Afarat. Did unpredictably well, coming second with

19.8% of the vote, ahead of Hamas. Very grass roots campaign: relied heavily on volunteers and made controversial visits to hospitals and refugee camps. Even got arrested and was abused when detained for campaigning in certain areas.

Connection with Edward Said

Barghouthi felt a strong personal connection with Edward Said, describing his “remarkable qualities as a friend” in a tribute after he died.

… Continued (Mustafa Barghouti)They co-founded the “Palestinian National Initiative (P.N.I)” together in 2002. He comments that the loss of such a prominent leader of such integrity was a great loss but the P.N.I. would be determined to follow in his footsteps with a commitment to his vision of a free Palestine. He describes Said as a “shining light in a confused world”

Palestinian National InitiativeThe initiative is in response to the popular demands of Palestinians calling fro increased participation in building a nation. The Initiative is an attempt to build “a reformist” Barghouti is the secretary of the society.Calls for: The implementation of Palestinian national rights and the creation o f a durable, just peace.The establishment of a sovereign, independent, democratic Palestinian state on the territories occupied since 1967. Only in this way can peace be achieved.U.N. resolutions requiring the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the West Bank and GazaImmediate Objectives of the Initiative:Working for free democratic elections.Restructuring government to guarantee transparancy, accountability and lack of corruption.Reform the court system.Serve the needs of the poor by developing employment and social welfare initiatives,

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