Edward Said

Known for: Acting

Born: October 31, 1935 in Jerusalem, British Mandate of Palestine - Died: September 23, 2003

Edward Wadie Said (1 November 1935 – 24 September 2003) was a Palestinian and American academic, literary critic, and political activist. As a professor of literature at Columbia University, he was among the founders of post-colonial studies. As a cultural critic, Said is best known for his book Orientalism (1978), a foundational text which critiques the cultural representations that are the bases of Orientalism—how the Western world perceives the Orient. His model of textual analysis transformed the academic discourse of researchers in literary theory, literary criticism, and Middle Eastern studies.