Western Media 's Portrayal Of The Middle East And Islam Essay

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 Rudyard Kipling and their novels, respectively, Heart of Darkness and Kim, which he used as examples to further his argument of the West’s imperialistic views and its misconception of Islam and the Middle East. To truly understand Edward Said not only as a writer, but as a person, one has to delve into the ideologies of Said and what he gained inspiration from, scholarly discourse written on Said’s writings, the issues that were encapsulated during his lifetime and his life, overall. One has to note,…