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The Selected Works of Edward Said, 1966 - 2006
The renowned literary and cultural critic Edward Said was one of our era's most provocative and important thinkers. This comprehensive collection of his work, expanded from the earlier Edward Said Reader, now draws from across his entire four-decade career, including his posthumously published books, making it a definitive one-volume source.
The Selected Works includes key sections from all of Said's books, including his groundbreaking Orientalism; his memoir, Out of Place; and his last book, On Late Style. Whether writing of Zionism or Palestinian self-determination, Jane Austen or Yeats, or of music or the media, Said's uncompromising intelligence casts urgent light on every subject he undertakes. The Selected Works is a joy for the general reader and an indispensable resource for scholars in the many fields that his work has influenced and transformed.
The Selected Works includes key sections from all of Said's books, including his groundbreaking Orientalism; his memoir, Out of Place; and his last book, On Late Style. Whether writing of Zionism or Palestinian self-determination, Jane Austen or Yeats, or of music or the media, Said's uncompromising intelligence casts urgent light on every subject he undertakes. The Selected Works is a joy for the general reader and an indispensable resource for scholars in the many fields that his work has influenced and transformed.
656 pages, Paperback
Published February 12, 2019
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About the author
Edward W. Said
232 books4,272 followers(Arabic Profile إدوارد سعيد)
Edward Wadie Said was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies. A Palestinian American born in Mandatory Palestine, he was a citizen of the United States by way of his father, a U.S. Army veteran.
Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East; his principal influences were Antonio Gramsci, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno.
As a cultural critic, Said is known for the book Orientalism (1978), a critique of the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient. Said’s model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle-Eastern studies—how academics examine, describe, and define the cultures being studied. As a foundational text, Orientalism was controversial among the scholars of Oriental Studies, philosophy, and literature.
As a public intellectual, Said was a controversial member of the Palestinian National Council, because he publicly criticized Israel and the Arab countries, especially the political and cultural policies of Muslim régimes who acted against the national interests of their peoples. Said advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state to ensure equal political and human rights for the Palestinians in Israel, including the right of return to the homeland. He defined his oppositional relation with the status quo as the remit of the public intellectual who has “to sift, to judge, to criticize, to choose, so that choice and agency return to the individual” man and woman.
In 1999, with his friend Daniel Barenboim, Said co-founded the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, based in Seville, which comprises young Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab musicians. Besides being an academic, Said also was an accomplished pianist, and, with Barenboim, co-authored the book Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society (2002), a compilation of their conversations about music. Edward Said died of leukemia on 25 September 2003.
Edward Wadie Said was a professor of literature at Columbia University, a public intellectual, and a founder of the academic field of postcolonial studies. A Palestinian American born in Mandatory Palestine, he was a citizen of the United States by way of his father, a U.S. Army veteran.
Educated in the Western canon, at British and American schools, Said applied his education and bi-cultural perspective to illuminating the gaps of cultural and political understanding between the Western world and the Eastern world, especially about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the Middle East; his principal influences were Antonio Gramsci, Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire, Michel Foucault, and Theodor Adorno.
As a cultural critic, Said is known for the book Orientalism (1978), a critique of the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient. Said’s model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle-Eastern studies—how academics examine, describe, and define the cultures being studied. As a foundational text, Orientalism was controversial among the scholars of Oriental Studies, philosophy, and literature.
As a public intellectual, Said was a controversial member of the Palestinian National Council, because he publicly criticized Israel and the Arab countries, especially the political and cultural policies of Muslim régimes who acted against the national interests of their peoples. Said advocated the establishment of a Palestinian state to ensure equal political and human rights for the Palestinians in Israel, including the right of return to the homeland. He defined his oppositional relation with the status quo as the remit of the public intellectual who has “to sift, to judge, to criticize, to choose, so that choice and agency return to the individual” man and woman.
In 1999, with his friend Daniel Barenboim, Said co-founded the West–Eastern Divan Orchestra, based in Seville, which comprises young Israeli, Palestinian, and Arab musicians. Besides being an academic, Said also was an accomplished pianist, and, with Barenboim, co-authored the book Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society (2002), a compilation of their conversations about music. Edward Said died of leukemia on 25 September 2003.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 27, 2019
A beautiful collection of Said's essays, masterfully written and quite thought-provoking. His interests and poignant views on disparate topics ranging from music to politics is worth gold to any reader.
My Rating - 5/5
My Rating - 5/5
February 1, 2019
The Selected Works of Edward Said, 1966-2006 is an expanded and updated version of The Edward Said Reader.
If you are either unfamiliar with Said or only know him from either his literary or his political writings then this is an excellent introduction to his writings. The introductory essay gives a wonderful overview of his life and career. All of his major works are represented as well as most of his important essays.
My introduction to his work was Orientalism shortly after its publication and I found his writing to be both clear and incisive. His subsequent writing was always very accessible and, whether you agree or disagree with his stance, he expressed his ideas very well.
If you want some Said in your library but don't want to buy a bunch of books this is a superb option. If you have read a lot of his work but want a single volume from which you can jump to his other works, this serves as a wonderful first or second step in your research.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
If you are either unfamiliar with Said or only know him from either his literary or his political writings then this is an excellent introduction to his writings. The introductory essay gives a wonderful overview of his life and career. All of his major works are represented as well as most of his important essays.
My introduction to his work was Orientalism shortly after its publication and I found his writing to be both clear and incisive. His subsequent writing was always very accessible and, whether you agree or disagree with his stance, he expressed his ideas very well.
If you want some Said in your library but don't want to buy a bunch of books this is a superb option. If you have read a lot of his work but want a single volume from which you can jump to his other works, this serves as a wonderful first or second step in your research.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.
August 26, 2024
The selected works of Edward Said 1966-2006 is a compilation of the most important chapters from Said’s books.
My relationship with Edward Said is unique. I recall first coming across his name in one of the papers I was reading while doing my Masters in Anthropology. The text was from Said’s book ‘Culture and Imperialism,’ in which he critically dissected Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’ through a sociopolitical lens. Despite the fact that my field - Anthropology - was born in the 18th century with Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt, we (students) were never informed about the interplay of colonialism and imperialism, which eventually evolved into what we now call the discipline of ‘Anthropology’ - a field dedicated to documenting societies and cultures.
As a Muslim and Arab student, I was fed up with the widespread misconceptions about my culture and religion among my Australian and European peers. It was difficult to explain myself because it was/is firmly ingrained in the mindset of the audience that people from Asia and Africa are inferior, less evolved cognitively, technologically, economically, and politically. Muslims from Asia, Arabs worldwide (Muslims, Jews, Christians, Atheists), and my brethren from African countries are so used to being misrepresented in the media and Hollywood that we sometimes surrender to what is already there because we are tired of explaining “who we are” and being ignored.
After reading Orientalism, I couldn’t contain my emotions. I was euphoric to discover that Orientalism wreaked havoc in academia when it was first published in 1979. I was mind-blown to read that his critical intervention forced Western academia and culture to confront its views of the non-European and also seriously assess itself. Edward Said defended people like me. He defended every marginalized human through his pen. Edward Said’s eloquence and energy still inspire me.
There is no one like him. We are overwhelmed with the feeling of Saudade to loss this icon
My relationship with Edward Said is unique. I recall first coming across his name in one of the papers I was reading while doing my Masters in Anthropology. The text was from Said’s book ‘Culture and Imperialism,’ in which he critically dissected Jane Austen’s ‘Mansfield Park’ through a sociopolitical lens. Despite the fact that my field - Anthropology - was born in the 18th century with Napoleon Bonaparte’s expedition to Egypt, we (students) were never informed about the interplay of colonialism and imperialism, which eventually evolved into what we now call the discipline of ‘Anthropology’ - a field dedicated to documenting societies and cultures.
As a Muslim and Arab student, I was fed up with the widespread misconceptions about my culture and religion among my Australian and European peers. It was difficult to explain myself because it was/is firmly ingrained in the mindset of the audience that people from Asia and Africa are inferior, less evolved cognitively, technologically, economically, and politically. Muslims from Asia, Arabs worldwide (Muslims, Jews, Christians, Atheists), and my brethren from African countries are so used to being misrepresented in the media and Hollywood that we sometimes surrender to what is already there because we are tired of explaining “who we are” and being ignored.
After reading Orientalism, I couldn’t contain my emotions. I was euphoric to discover that Orientalism wreaked havoc in academia when it was first published in 1979. I was mind-blown to read that his critical intervention forced Western academia and culture to confront its views of the non-European and also seriously assess itself. Edward Said defended people like me. He defended every marginalized human through his pen. Edward Said’s eloquence and energy still inspire me.
There is no one like him. We are overwhelmed with the feeling of Saudade to loss this icon
February 5, 2019
Beautifully constructed essays, an absolute joy to read and savour. Said's command of language is masterly, his arguments powerful and thought provoking. His insight into such diverse worlds as music, politics and identity open new world's for any reader. His writing is so passionate you just can't help being interested in subjects you'd never really considered before.
December 18, 2020
Originally published as The Edward Said Reader, this is a new edition from Vintage with a preface by Maryam Said, Edward Said’s wife. It is a chunky book that has about 600 pages. The collection is selected from Said’s earliest works to his posthumously published works in 2006. Even though I have read several books by Said, reviewing this book gave me another angle to Edward Said’s great oeuvre. Said’s work had a long-lasting impact not only on a range of different academic discourses but on our current struggles for social justice. Although the publication of Orientalism can be traced as the point of origin for postcolonial discourse within the Western academy, there have been many other BIPoC postcolonial intellectuals prior to Said. From both the global south and transatlantic region, people such as Ibrahim Abu Lughod, Talal Asad, Aimé Césaire, and Frantz Fanon have contributed to the liberationist struggles of black, brown and indigenous peoples against the colonizers. And as we know, despite the invention of these theories, the European settlers have not left the colonized lands as the famous quote of Bobbi Sykes suggests: “What? Post-colonialism? Have they left?” (1)
Said’s background was in literary criticism. He taught English literature at Columbia University. He was also an accomplished piano player. At the end of his life, Said co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim. Together they also authored the book ”Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society”, a collection of their conversations and public discussions about music. Aside from his academic career, Said was also active politically and was a member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC).
The reason I connect with Said is because of his political genius, and his subtle criticism of Western left especially within the universities. After migrating to the United States and pursuing his studies, he realized that in order to open the conversation about Palestinian liberation and the struggle for self-determination, he has to undo multiple levels of complexity. The first Gordian knot that needed to be untied was the problem of representation. The Middle East similar to the rest of Asia and Africa has been interpreted and represented to the Western audiences by European Orientalists. These academics and scholars perpetuated the pre-established system of domination. The discourse of Oriental studies (which some European countries such as Finland still have) helped pave the way for representing the East to the Western population through a process of racialization. Orientalism itself as an academic discourse became attainable by the military domination over the East. As Said argues on page 74 of the book, “…Orientalism is more particularly valuable as a sign of European-Atlantic power over the Orient than it is as a veridic discourse about the Orient (which is what, in its academic or scholarly form, it claims to be). (2)
Read the full review at:
insideanairport
***
Said’s background was in literary criticism. He taught English literature at Columbia University. He was also an accomplished piano player. At the end of his life, Said co-founded the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra with Daniel Barenboim. Together they also authored the book ”Parallels and Paradoxes: Explorations in Music and Society”, a collection of their conversations and public discussions about music. Aside from his academic career, Said was also active politically and was a member of the Palestinian National Council (PNC).
”The critical study of the politics of representation does not simply ask whether the subaltern as Gayatri Spivak famously explored, can speak, but what makes them sing.” (2)
“England has to fulfill a double mission in India: one destructive, the other regenerating—the annihilation of the Asiatic society, and the laying of the material foundations of Western society in Asia.” -Karl Marx, Surveys from Exile, ed. David Fernbach (London: Pelican Books, 1973), pp. 306–7
The reason I connect with Said is because of his political genius, and his subtle criticism of Western left especially within the universities. After migrating to the United States and pursuing his studies, he realized that in order to open the conversation about Palestinian liberation and the struggle for self-determination, he has to undo multiple levels of complexity. The first Gordian knot that needed to be untied was the problem of representation. The Middle East similar to the rest of Asia and Africa has been interpreted and represented to the Western audiences by European Orientalists. These academics and scholars perpetuated the pre-established system of domination. The discourse of Oriental studies (which some European countries such as Finland still have) helped pave the way for representing the East to the Western population through a process of racialization. Orientalism itself as an academic discourse became attainable by the military domination over the East. As Said argues on page 74 of the book, “…Orientalism is more particularly valuable as a sign of European-Atlantic power over the Orient than it is as a veridic discourse about the Orient (which is what, in its academic or scholarly form, it claims to be). (2)
Read the full review at:
insideanairport
***
September 28, 2021
I rated it a 4, not as a reflection of Said's scholarship, but because its academic style is often abstruse. Most of the texts require a rather high level of background information, and if you don't possess it, it can leave you floundering while trying to connect various thoughts he's assembling. He uses Latin, French and German phrases that are not translated, and also refers to people by simply using their last names... these are not people that most of us typically know. For me, the writings concerning Palestine suffer less from this, and these are the passages that truly shine for me. So, depending on your level of scholarship in the areas he discusses you may either find it deeply revealing or laborious at times. No matter which essay you're reading expect to have to pay 100% attention to the text.
Want to read
December 8, 2023From Ezra Klein 10/31/23 - Zack Beauchamp - If not this, then what should Israel do
February 25, 2024
Edward Said was a true renaissance man. The fact that he isn’t more well known in the English-speaking world (or the west in general) is really disappointing.
Please read this book!
Please read this book!
January 25, 2025
A very fine collection of essays. I have always enjoyed reading Edward Said. I look forward to reading more of his works.
June 24, 2021
This book is tragic. Partly because it deals so much with the question of Palestine, the Nakba, and Said’s feelings about his people’s dispossession. Partly because it is a retrospective of all his work after his death, which robbed the world of a uniquely subversive voice. I mostly skipped the essays that only discussed music and literature, and dug into the ones about politics and Said’s own life.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews