The Cambridge Introduction to Edward Said

Cambridge Introductions to Literature

by Conor McCarthy

One of the most famous literary critics of the twentieth century, Edward Said's work has been hugely influential far beyond academia. As a prominent advocate for the Palestinian cause and a noted music critic, Said redefined the role of the public intellectual. In his books, as scholarly as they are readable, he challenged conventional critical demarcations between disciplines. His major opus, Orientalism, is a key text in postcolonial studies that continues to influence as well as challenge scholars in the field. Conor McCarthy introduces the reader to Said's major works and examines how his work and life were intertwined. He explains recurring themes in Said's writings on literature and empire, on intellectuals and literary theory, on music and on the Israel/Palestine conflict. This concise, informative and clearly written introduction for students beginning to study Said is ideally set up to explain the complexities of his work to new audiences.

Genres: Philosophy

170 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Differengenera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read a few of the books in the Cambridge Introduction series in the course of my undergraduate, postgraduate career whenever I needed to become conversant in a particular subject in 100 pages or less. I've always been found them to be very functional, cursory, sometimes simplistic surveys.

This publication is very different, being as it is absolutely riven with discriminating and incisive judgements about Said's life, context and writings. Not only are Said's relationships with each distinctive school of cultural studies / their most prominent theorists accounted for, we get comprehensive accounts of them as well as *their* context and influences.

I would recommend this work equally to absolute newcomers as well as those who have studied Said in depth.

[Frumenty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Reading this I have felt like a child permitted to sit up late listening to the conversation of adults discussing topics beyond my comprehension, gratified when the conversation occasionally touches on matter with which I am familiar but more often wondering what is going on. I had thought that the best approach to Said would be to begin with a book such as this, an overview of his ideas, but all that approach has taught me is that I don't have the tools to grasp many of his ideas ; I'm not conversant with the philosophy of Derrida or Foucault, nor the import of many other names that McCarthy mentions. I have a copy of Said's most popular book, Orientalism, so perhaps, if the author doesn't assume too much knowledge on my part, I can make more sense of that.

How to assign a score out of 5? To be fair, I shouldn't mark it down on account of my own ignorance. A score of 1 is reserved for "this is a terrible book" and 3 for "this is an OK book but it didn't excite me, could be so much better, etc.", so the neutral score in this scale is 2 and that's what I'm giving it.

[GJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually loved this, I learned a lot. It was much shorter than expected, and better than most books of this length that try to summarize a single scholar’s career. I’d read significant portions of two of Said books before but this snapped more of his diverse range of projects into view as part of a whole. I really liked the section on his influences and the summary of “Culture and Imperialism”. I didn’t know anything about his book “Beginnings”.

[Jerry Muzsik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it an excellent intro to Said. Especially the final two sections. The third (second to last) gives a good overview of several of his most important books, giving a sense of his ideas and leanings.
Found this an excellent book to get a sense of his writing style as well. He is a controversial figure (especially at this time) and the last chapter gives you a very good sense of some of the major arguments for and against him to help you have a better sense of his place in academic culture. Overall, made me interested enough and just purchased (because the library has what seems to be a 30 person waitlist on his books) to of his books used, beginnings and the world, the text, the critic.