New York: Penguin, 1995 (revised), 368.
He is the University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, a writer, and a music critic. He is also well known for his political commentary. Even though he resides in New York, he maintains his membership in the Palestine National Council. He pushes for Palestinian self-determination. He has published ten books, among them, Orientalism "the runner up in criticism for the National Book Critics Circle Award. He has also written The World, the Text and the Critic, Blaming the Victims, and Culture and Imperialism. His writings appear regularly in the Guardian of London and the Arab-language daily al-Hayat. .
Edward Said's most popular, yet most critiqued novel is Orientalism. It is an evaluation and critique of the set of beliefs known as Orientalism. His goal in writing this novel was to produce a historical and anthropological perspective of Oriental studies that would highlight the inaccuracies he found. In order to take this perspective, Said had to rediscover and research Oriental texts. This research allows Said to depict a more accurate description by familiarizing himself with the particular linguistics and ethnography of this culture "an important background for postcolonial studies. However, Said did not attempt to cover everything under the heading of Oriental studies. His concentration focused on how American, French, and English scholars have approached the Arab societies of the Middle East and North Africa. .
Edward Said makes three claims in this text. His first claim is that the term "Orientalism- is more significant than many scholars realize. Said believes that Orientalism functions to serve political purposes. This field provides an avenue for justification of Europeans and their successful attempts to take over Oriental lands. Said discusses how colonization seemed to be a good idea because the European colonists learned about eastern life "the religion, the language, the customs, and their feelings.
