Edward Said

[ These are basically my lecture notes on Said... feel free to ask or add anything. :) ]

Edward Said defines the relationship between a world culture and the history of modern Imperialism. He discusses a few of the mutual relationships between the two seemingly different concepts.
+ Said defines literature as a planetary system that is profoundly European-centric.
+ "the ability to view the world in this way remains a Western privilege."
--> This line creates structure and equality in the world, in cultural terms.

A) Notions of Resistance and how he thinks about resistance
~ where there is dominance, there is also resistance. (This is not directly political or violent; It is some orientation of the mind or body that pushes back against power at the same time.) They are mutually inseparable elements.

B) Notion of Social Identity
~identities - understanding of our most personal selves- are a part of external social forces. (People have been deeply formed in ways we do not understand) Identity is historically produced. Social Identity, something we belong to by birth, cannot be a basis of our resistance against the imperial government.

*Imperialism is an asymmetrical system that, in cultural terms, is Euro-centric. [It contains a center and a periphery, with implications of the Empowered and the Subordinate.]
` In what ways are the empowered and the subordinate shown in literature? *They are shown in the difference between the older, colonial generation, and a younger, post-colonial generation.