Edward Said (Routledge Critical Thinkers)

Edward Said is perhaps best known as the author of the landmark study Orientalism, a book which changed the face of critical theory and shaped the emerging field of post-colonial studies, and for his controversial journalism on the Palestinian political situation.

Looking at the context and the impact of Said's scholarship and journalism, this book examines Said's key ideas, including:

• the significance of 'worldliness', 'amateurism', 'secular criticism', 'affiliation' and 'contrapuntal reading'
• the place of text and critic in 'the world'
• knowledge, power and the construction of the 'Other'
• links between culture and imperialism
• exile, identity and the plight of Palestine
• a new chapter looking at Said's later work and style

This popular guide has been fully updated and revised in a new edition, suitable for readers approaching Said's work for the first time as well as those already familiar with the work of this important theorist. The result is the ideal guide to one of the twentieth century's most engaging critical thinkers.

Bill Ashcroft is a founding exponent of post-colonial theory, co-author of The Empire Writes Back, the first text to examine systematically the field of post-colonial studies. He is Chair of the School of English at the University of Hong Kong, on leave from the University of New South Wales.

Pal Ahluwalia is Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences and the Director for the Centre for Post-Colonial Studies, University of Southern Australia. He is the editor of three Routledge journals, Social Identities, African Identities and Sikh Formations.