Edward W. Said 1935-2003
In Ruckus [Vol. 7, Iss. 2, October 2003]

“… it hardly needs saying that because the Middle East is now so identified with Great Power politics, oil economies, and the simple-minded dichotomy of freedom-loving, democratic Israel and evil, totalitarian, and terroristic Arabs, the chances of anything like a clear view of what one talks about in talking about the Near East are depressingly small.” Edward Said, ‘Orientalism’ (1978)

Acclaimed literary critic. Intellectual. Stone-thrower. Anti-American. Peace activist. Renowned musicologist.

Said’s achievements are as diverse as people’s opinions of him. If you were one of the lucky ones who made it into UW’s packed Walker-Ames lecture last spring (even people with tickets coming from as far as Port Angeles had to be turned back at the door) you’ll be well aware that controversy surrounded Said’s life and work.

The line of people waiting outside the Kane Auditorium was flanked by a row of pro-Israeli (or anti-Palestinian? One forgets.) demonstrators sporting large posters of a younger Said hurling stones, we imagine at some innocent US-engineered and -financed M1 Abraham™ tank on a routine ‘security’ operation. An aggressive half-page essay by three UW academics appeared in The Daily, criticizing the University for bestowing the prestigious invitation to an ‘anti-Semitic’.

Said was born November 1, 1935 in Jerusalem, spending most of his childhood in Cairo, except for several long stays in Palestine. He received his university education at Harvard and Princeton. He was a professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University at the time of his death.

Said’s 1978 book “Orientalism” made waves, and remains his most famous work. A thinly-masked criticism of past Anglo-French imperialism and current US neo-imperialism in the Near- (getting nearer-) East, it was also a groundbreaking look at western attitudes towards Islam.

Whatever your views on the Middle East crisis (err, I mean crises), and American involvement therein, it’s hard to deny that Said has had tremendous influence on both sides of the line. His pro-unity stance on Israel is perhaps too easily mistaken for anti-Zionism. Said was, and is, an inspiration to critical thought and analysis in a world that desperately needs both. The university’s decision to invite such an esteemed but controversial speaker at such a volatile time deserves nothing less than our admiration. Controversy, after all, is probably the unacknowledged driving force behind everything from civil liberties to democracy.

Edward Said died of leukemia at the age of 67 on Wednesday the 24th of September.

“If the knowledge of Orientalism has any meaning, it is in being a reminder of the seductive degradation of knowledge, of any knowledge, anywhere, at any time. Now perhaps more than before.” Edward Said, 1978

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