¡°A fascinating, oblique entry into the mind of one whose own writings . . . are a brilliant questioning chronicle of contemporary culture and values.¡± --Nadine Gordimer
"Edward Said [is] arguably the most consequential literary, cultural, and geopolitical critic of our time." ?Richard Poirier
"These fascinating and revealing interviews reinforce Edward Said's standing as one of our foremost public intellectuals. His is a democratic and cosmopolitan humanism . . . [that] enlarge[s] our understanding of the world and of ourselves." ?Eric Foner
Preface
Introduction
Pt. 1 Performance and Criticism 1
1 Beginnings 3
2 In the Shadow of the West 39
3 Overlapping Territories: The World, the Text, and the Critic 53
4 Literary Theory at the Crossroads of Public Life 69
5 Criticism, Culture, and Performance 94
6 Criticism and the Art of Politics 118
7 Wild Orchids and Trotsky 164
8 Culture and Imperialism 183
9 Orientalism and After 208
10 Edward Said: Between Two Cultures 233
11 Peoples' Rights and Literature 248
12 Language, History, and the Production of Knowledge 262
13 I've Always Learnt During the Class 280
Pt. II Scholarship and Activism 285
14 Can an Arab and a Jewish State Coexist? 287
15 Scholars, Media, and the Middle East 291
16 An Exile's Exile 313
17 American Intellectuals and Middle East Politics 323
18 The Need for Self-Appraisal 343
19 A Formula for More Husseins 349
20 Palestinian Voices in the U.S. 352
21 The Intellectuals and the War 357
22 What People in the U.S. Know About Islam Is a S...tupid Cliche 368
23 Europe and Its Others: An Arab Perspective 385
24 Symbols Versus Substance: A Year After the Declaration of Principles 394
25 The Road Less Traveled 409
26 Returning to Ourselves 419
27 A State, Yes, But Not Just for Palestinians 432
28 Orientalism, Arab Intellectuals, Marxism, and Myth in Palestinian History 437
29 My Right of Return 443
Credit Acknowledgments 459
Index 463