Edward Said - Culture and Imperialism (1993)

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The history of other cultures is non-existent until it erupts in confrontation with the United States.

Edward Said
Culture is a sort of theatre where various political and ideological causes engage one another. Far from being a placid realm of Apollonian gentility, culture can even be a battleground on which causes expose themselves to the light of day and contend with one another.

Edward Said
Theory is taught so as to make the student believe that he or she can become a Marxist, a feminist, an Afrocentrist, or a deconstructionist with about the same effort and commitment required in choosing items from a menu.

Edward Said
We are at a point in our work when we can no longer ignore empires and the imperial context in our studies.

Edward Said
Reading and writing texts are never neutral activities: there are interests, powers, pleasures entailed no matter how aesthetic or entertaining the work. Media, political economy, mass institutions – in fine, the tracings of secular power and the influence of the state – are part of what we call literature.

Edward Said
Exile is predicated on the existence of, love for, and a real bond with one's native place; the universal truth of exile is not that one has lost that love or home, but that inherent in each is an unexpected, unwelcome loss. Regard experiences then as if they were about to disappear.

Edward Said
There are far too many politicized people on earth today for any nation readily to accept the finality of America's historical mission to lead the world.

Edward Said