Culture and Imperialism

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About Culture And Imperialism

Product Description A landmark work from the author of Orientalism that explores the long-overlooked connections between the Western imperial endeavor and the culture that both reflected and reinforced it. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, as the Western powers built empires that stretched from Australia to the West Indies, Western artists created masterpieces ranging from Mansfield Park to Heart of Darkness and Aida. Yet most cultural critics continue to see these phenomena as separate. Edward Said looks at these works alongside those of such writers as W. B. Yeats, Chinua Achebe, and Salman Rushdie to show how subject peoples produced their own vigorous cultures of opposition and resistance. Vast in scope and stunning in its erudition, Culture and Imperialism reopens the dialogue between literature and the life of its time. Amazon.com Review Edward Said makes one of the strongest cases ever for the aphorism, "the pen is mightier than the sword." This is a brilliant work of literary criticism that essentially becomes political science. Culture and Imperialism demonstrates that Western imperialism's most effective tools for dominating other cultures have been literary in nature as much as political and economic. He traces the themes of 19th- and 20th-century Western fiction and contemporary mass media as weapons of conquest and also brilliantly analyzes the rise of oppositional indigenous voices in the literatures of the "colonies." Said would argue that it's no mere coincidence that it was a Victorian Englishman, Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton, who coined the phrase "the pen is mightier . . ." Very highly recommended for anyone who wants to understand how cultures are dominated by words, as well as how cultures can be liberated by resuscitating old voices or creating new voices for new times. From Publishers Weekly The author of Orientalism examines the interrelationship of Occidental literature and imperialism from the 17th century to the Gulf war. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review "Grandly conceived . . . urgently written and urgently needed. . . . No one studying the relations between the metropolitan West and the decolonizing world can ignore Mr. Said's work.' -- The New York Times Book Review " Culture and Imperialism has an eloquent, urgent topicality rare in books by literary critics. . . . Said is a brilliant and unique amalgam of scholar, aesthete, and political activist. . . . His learning is global." -- Washington Post Book World "Rough-and-ready scholarship from today's street fight in the humanities. . . . Said reads passionately and bravely. . . . He challenges everyone to read fiction in the most comprehensive manner possible." -- Philadelphia Inquirer "Readers accustomed to the precision and elegance of Edward Said's analytical prowess will not be disappointed by Culture and Imperialism. Those discovering Said for the first time will be profoundly impressed." --Toni Morrison "In Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said's immense erudition and interpretive audacity are brought to bear on a variety of literatures, reanimating the terms of his title and discovering, in the process, how some of the most revered cultural productions call upon the same energies that go into the building of empires. His book will likely become a classic of contemporary criticism." --Richard Poirier From the Publisher "In Culture and Imperialism, Edward Said's immense erudition and interpretive audacity are brought to bear on a variety of literatures, reanimating the terms of his title and discovering, in the process, how some of the most revered cultural productions call upon the same energies that go into the building of empires. His new book will likely become a classic of contemporary criticism." --Richard Poirier From the Back Cover A landmark work from the intellectually auspicious author of Orientalism that explores the long-overlooked connections between the Western imperial e