Edward Said: A Critical Introduction

Key Contemporary Thinkers (Polity)

by Valerie Kennedy

Edward Said is one of the foremost thinkers writing today. His work as a literary and cultural critic, a political commentator, and the champion of the cause of Palestinian rights has given him a unique position in western intellectual life. This new book is a major exploration and assessment of his writings in all these main areas. Focusing on Said's insistence on the connection between literature, politics and culture, Kennedy offers an overview and assessment of the main strands of Said's work, drawing out the links and contradictions between each area. The book begins with an examination of Orientalism , one of the founding texts of post-colonial studies. Kennedy looks at the book in detail, probing both its strengths and weaknesses, and linking it to its sequel, Culture and Imperialism . She then examines Said's work on the Palestinian people, with his emphasis on the need for a Palestinian narrative to counter pro-Israeli accounts of the Middle East, and his searing criticisms of US, Israeli, and even Arab governments. The book closes with an examination of Said's importance in the field of post-colonial studies, notably colonial discourse analysis and post-colonial theory, and his significance as a public intellectual. This book will be of great interest to anyone studying post-colonialism, literary theory, politics, and the Middle East, as well as anyone interested in Said's writings.

Genres: Politics, Philosophy, Nonfiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2000

About the author

Valerie Kennedy received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from the University of East Anglia, England, in 1979. Since 1976 she has worked in Kenya, Morocco, and Turkey, teaching a variety of undergraduate and graduate classes and supervising M.A. and Ph. D. theses. She has published articles on various nineteenth- and twentieth-century British authors, and on postmodernism, feminism, and post-colonialism. She has also edited and written the introduction for a collection of poetry entitled Framing Reference (2001). Her book, Edward Said: A Critical Introduction, was published in 2000, and has since been translated into Chinese complex characters and into simplified Chinese. It is currently being translated into Korean. Her current areas of interest are Charles Dickens, Joseph Conrad, and Mary Kingsley, and, more generally, travel writing and postcolonial writing. She is currently working on an essay on Joseph Conrad and his relation to both the colonial and postcolonial situations, and on a book project on Charles Dickens and Mary Kingsley.

Reviews

[Ahmed Adel · Rating 4 out of 5]

الكتاب حلو عشان عامل زى تلخيص وتعليق على معظم أعمال إدوارد سعيد.. عجبنى جدا الفصل الأول بتاع "الاستشراق" عشان وضح لى كذا حاجة ما كنتش واخد بالى منها لما كنت باقرا "الاستشراق" بالإنجليزى..
الترجمة كويسة بس فيه أوقات كانت مش أحسن حاجة.. يعنى كتير باين إن الكلام مترجم، بس يمكن دى طبيعة الموضوع نفسه كده إنه صعب..
نفسى بس حد يراجع الكتب قبل ما تتنشر، عشان الأخطاء المطبعية والإملائية والنحوية بتقلل من الكتاب وما ينفعش كتاب يخرج م المركز القومى للترجمة يبقى فيه غلطات كده 😿

[Israa · Rating 3 out of 5]

كتاب رائع جدا من ناحية إنه تعريف ومقدمة لشخصية مهمة جدا وملهمة للعديد في دراسات ما بعد الاستعمار.
حذفت نجمتين لسببين أولا بسبب الأخطاء المطبعية الكارثية اللي بتوقفني شوية قدام بعض الجمل عشان أفهمها وثانيا لإن الناقدة -كينيدي- تميل للإطناب والتكرار حد الملل.

[Sigo Paolini · Rating 2 out of 5]

The major thing I learned was Said is an Anglican.. I did not expect that. There is no mention of his great feud with the Jewish-American scholar Bernard Lewis nor much else.

[Ahmed Negmeldin · Rating 3 out of 5]

الترجمة جيدة في معظم الكتاب، في مواضع قليلة الأسلوب مكانش بالسلاسة الكافية، الأسلوب الأدبي للكاتبة في المجمل يميل للإطناب وأسلوبها النقدي أحيانا كان غير مبرر أو مش في صلب القضية، الفصول مع التأخر بتتحسن من كل النواحي وخاصة الجانب النقدي بيكون ملم أكتر بكتابات سعيد وده قد يكون مفهوم لأن الكتاب بيمشي بالترتيب الزمني لكتاباته، لكن الكتاب ككل أسلوبه مناسب للتعرف على إدوارد سعيد فبيبدأ بمقدمة عن حياته وعن نظرة سريعة على مسيرة أفكاره وتوجهاته، ثم بيبدأ الكتاب يفصل في ثلاثة أعمال لسعيد ويربطهم ببعض وبالأعمال البينية وفي داخل كل عمل يوجد مقدمة ملخصة للظروف المحيطة بالعمل وبالأفكار الرئيسية المتضمنة.