Edward W. Said
Literary critic and professor
Edward W. Said was a Palestinian American critic and Columbia University professor. He helped found postcolonial studies and wrote Orientalism.
1 summary 15 min of listening
American Born 1935 in Jerusalem, Israel Died 2003
Influenced by Frantz Fanon
About Edward W. Said
Edward W. Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935 and held United States citizenship through his father, who had served in the US Army. After the 1948 Palestine war his family moved to Egypt and then to the United States. He graduated from Princeton University in 1957, and Harvard University awarded him a doctorate in 1964 for his studies of English literature. Said joined Columbia University in 1963 and taught there until 2003. He also lectured at more than 200 other universities. He is best known for Orientalism (1978), a critique of Western perceptions of the Orient. Said was also a public intellectual who argued for a Palestinian state, and he sat on the Palestinian National Council until he resigned in 1993. In 1999 he co-founded the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim, bringing together young Israeli, Palestinian and Arab musicians. He was a pianist as well.