Customer Reviews

Edward Said

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(from another's review in the Spring 2011 'Middle East Quarterly'). ["Edward Said: The Charisma of Criticism" by Aram Vesser.]: "....To his credit, [the author] Veeser unmasks several contradictions within the character of his icon [Edward Said], acknowledging, for example, that despite his wish to "preserve a distance" from the PLO, Said eventually supported it. The author sees this somehow as a "political error" in which Said stole "victory from youthful fighters" and, by cooperating with the PLO, mistakenly handed it to "corrupt old men." ....Said's change of heart was a "tragic irony" that came a "decade too late." Veeser dilates upon Said's magnum opus, "Orientalism", but critical examination is absent. Throughout his life's work, Said substituted one stereotype for another. Indeed, European influence in the Middle East and North Africa did exist for a few hundred years, but before, during, and, to some degree, after the influence of Europeans began to be felt, it was the Ottoman Empire, another active and aggressive colonial power, which had the greatest influence in the region. Thus Said's true legacy is one of defending Islamic imperialism and indulging in politicized rhetoric heavy with accusations and resentment, an appraisal not shared by Veeser. Said's work was intellectually shallow and several of his assertions about his background are apparently fraudulent. One is never quite sure whether his support for Arab violence was due to tribalism, insecurity about his origins, or to his undoubted capacity for self-pity...."