Edward
W. Said, a University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at
Columbia University, is known both for his groundbreaking research in the field
of comparative literature and his incisive political commentary. He is one of
the most prominent intellectuals in the United States today. His writing
regularly appears in the Guardian of
London, Le Monde Diplomatique and
the Arab-language daily al-Hayat,
printed in every Arab capital in the world.
In 1948, Said and his family were dispossessed from Palestine and settled in Cairo. He came to the United States to attend college and has lived in New York for many years.
Said was born in Jerusalem in 1935 and was for many years America’s foremost spokesman for the Palestinian cause. His writings have been translated into 26 languages, including his most influential book, Orientalism (1978), an examination of the way the West perceives the Islamic world. Much of his writing beyond literary and cultural criticism is inspired by his passionate advocacy of the Palestinian cause, including The Question of Palestine, (1979), Covering Islam (1981), After the Last Sky (1986) Blaming the Victims (1988.and Culture and Imperialism (Knopf, 1993)among others. He is the only American citizen to receive the Owais Prize
Educated at Princeton and Harvard, Said has lectured at more than 150
universities and colleges in the United States, Canada and Europe.
He is teaching a
graduate seminar on “Politics and Aesthetics” in the Department of English
and Comparative Literature, leading students through works by diverse authors—Salman
Rushdie, James Joyce and George Eliot, among others. The themes he presents
remain universal across literary centuries—nationalism, the individual
versus society, moral choices, majority versus minority rights, political
repression.
Said is the president of the prestigious Modern Language Association, the professional association of literary scholars.In recent years the M.L.A. has been beset by warring camps in the debate over political correctness, multiculturalism and diversity on college campuses. Now Said believes the association is evolving toward a more universal outlook. “I think we are past this more cantankerous period,” he said. “It is now a more richly tolerant organization.”
On Israel’s 50th anniversary, the British Broadcasting Corporation
chosed him to document the Jewish state’s history from the point of view of a
Palestinian. Said was a prominent member of the Palestinian parliament-in-exile
for 14 years until he quietly stepped down in 1991. He had broken with Yasir
Arafat after decades of support, saying the P.L.O. lacked credibility and moral
authority. He has called the peace agreement between Israel and the P.L.O. “an
instrument of Palestinian surrender” and an extension of Israel’s long-standing
policy to dominate the Arabs militarily and economically.
His criticism extends to the United States, which he calls a “dishonest
broker” in the peace process due to its long-standing support for Israel.
In
his book titled Not Quite Right,
Said chronicles his early years in Jerusalem as the son of a wealthy Palestinian
Christian businessman, his family’s exile to Cairo after the founding of
Israel, his education at a New England boarding school, undergraduate years at
Princeton and graduate study at Harvard. Also due to be published next year are
a collection of literary essays and a book on opera.
In
an interviewed with him in his spacious, book-lined office in
Philosophy Hall, his academic home for the last 35 years, Said spoke openly
about his treatment for chronic leukemia, for which he has received periodic
chemotherapy treatments since the disease was first diagnosed in 1992. His
prognosis continues to be good. He said he has learned to accommodate his life
to the treatments, and to pace his activity against the burden of periodic
exhaustion.
While
Said, who is fluent in Arabic and French, remains a sought-after commentator in
this country on Middle Eastern politics, and is often heard on National Public
Radio.He is a frequent commentator for the BBC, Canadian Broadcasting and on
Australian radio. He writes about the Middle East and other subjects for The
Progressive and contributes a twice-monthly column to Al
Hayat, the London-based Arabic daily that circulates throughout the Arab
world. Said, an accomplished pianist and scholar of music, is the music critic
of The Nation.
Although
he occasionally writes opinion pieces for leading American newspapers, he finds
overseas publications and radio much more receptive to his critical view of
events in the Middle East.