Criticism Of Edward Said

Edward Said is an intellectual unlike any other and his vast knowledge from music to literature to politics will amaze any reader or critic of his. He was not only described by many as “arguably the most influential intellectual of our time” as in a 2001 article in The Guardian, but also as contradictory and “peculiarly partial” by others such as, Vinay Lal of the Economic & Political Weekly. Throughout much of his adult life, he was most renowned for his work on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Western media’s portrayal of the Middle East and Islam, exile, and the more general issue of Western nation’s imperialism and colonialism. His great passion for these issues not only stirred the minds of many in both the academic and non-academic worlds, but was also the basis of some of his most influential books, Orientalism and Culture and Imperialism. Throughout his writing, his vast vocabulary and knowledge of literature is evident, as well, especially that of Joseph Conrad and …show more content…
One has to note, however, that the analysis of only several texts out of the many that Edward Said has written will only give a reader a broad scope and a small glimpse of Said, who is described as someone who “transformed the West’s perception of the Israel-Arab conflict” (worldaffairsjournal.org). His writing is quite direct and lush with examples from the world of literature. The issues of the Middle East, exile, and imperialism that Said wrote about a couple to several decades ago are still quite relevant and pressing issues of the world today. One may wonder, then, why did Edward Said focus so much of his career on defending the lives of those who he believed were misrepresented and misinterpreted by the