A Said Dictionary

The work of Edward W. Said, one of the key theorists and cultural critics of the twentieth century, has been continually misunderstood and misappropriated by fellow critics and general readers from a range of ideological and political standpoints. This engaging new book, by an eminent postcolonial theorist, maps out Said’s critical and theoretical world on the basis of the key terms and concepts that Said wielded so eloquently and persuasively as he sought to align his work as a critic with the heterogeneous realities of an ever–changing world. Original and creative, Said brought his perspective to bear on the existing critical idiom and transformed it in ways that were of interest both to specialists in the field and readers at large. He was able to successfully combine the complex erudition of the expert professional and the transparent accountability of a public intellectual committed to a democratic public both national and international. Analyzing the ways in which his work interacted honestly and fearlessly with the distinguished contributions of his contemporary theorists, this interpretive dictionary delineates the uniqueness of Said′s presence in the landscape of literary and cultural studies, and seeks to do justice to the full scope of his project and his inimitable legacy.

List of terms ix Preface xi Dictionary 1 Bibliography 159 Index 171

R. Radhakrishnan is Chancellor’s Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine.  He is the author of Diasporic Mediations (1996), Theory in an Uneven World (Blackwell, 2003), Between Identity and Location: The Cultural Politics of Theory (2007), History, the Human, and the World Between (2008), and editor of Theory as Variation (2007), Transnational South Asians: The Making of a Neo–Diaspora (with Susan Koshy, 2008), and Theory after Derrida: Essays in Critical Praxis (with Kailash Baral, 2009).  His essays have appeared in a wide range of international journals and collections. Translator of contemporary Tamil fiction into English, he is also the author of a volume of poems in Tamil.

“This book is an excellent introduction to the variety and complexity of Said’s work (as Radhakrishnan points out, Said was not interested in constructing some monolithic system), and will no doubt be of interest to those more familiar with his work too.”  ( Reference Reviews , 1 June 2013) “This just may be the kind of Said that all who hold him in esteem have awaited.  Summing Up: Highly recommended.  Upper–division undergraduates and above.”  ( Choice , 1 November 2012)