Interviews with Edward W. Said

Edward W. Said (1935-2003) was a controversial and influential figure in and around the U.S. academy for well over three decades. His work played a foundational role in the development of postcolonial studies, even as his books -- such as Orientalism (1978), The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983), and Culture and Imperialism (1993) -- contributed to a radical transformation of literary studies. In almost all his interviews, Said's passion and occasional rage shape the probity and complexity of his positions on a variety of topics. In interviews conducted by such notable media figures as Charlie Rose, Scott Simon, Alexander Cockburn, Paula Zahn, and Jim Lehrer, Said elaborates on his quarrels with Marxism, poststructuralism, Western cultural hegemony, and postmodernism. He offers clarifications for his critics and admirers alike on the seeming contradictions in the positions he has taken from time to time. Delightful and edifying, Interviews with Edward W. Said will serve for a long time to come as a rich resource on Said's thoughtful personality and his often provocative views on both personal identity and historical experience.