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Humanism and Democratic Criticism (Columbia Themes in Philosophy)
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Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 144
EAN: 9780231122641
ISBN: 0231122640
Label: Columbia University Press
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 192
Publication Date: April 07, 2004
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Studio: Columbia University Press
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Editorial Review:"As the widely acknowledged father of post-colonial studies, Said has inspired a wave of interest in the study of cultural difference." -- Laura Ciolkowski, International Herald Tribune
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Said's last offering to the World
Of course this is one of Edward Said's last offerings to the world. Coming out of Columbia University Press where he taught for five decades, it offers a cogent sampling of Said's thoughts towards intellectuals and humanistic practice in America today.
One overarching theme of the book is simply that the humanities in no way represent a set doctrine of must reads, but rather consists of an organic canon perpetually open to new works, influences and analysis. Some of the spokesmen ... Read More
Rating: - Beautiful and nuanced
Despite its size, this brief collection of lectures comprises a nuanced and compelling argument of how to rescue the humanities from their growing marginalization and irrelevance. Calling for a return to philology and criticizing the jargon-laden obscuratinism and relativism of much of contemporary humanistic practice, Said nevertheless maintains the benefit of close readings of texts and a multiculturalism that consists of expanding the canon rather than tossing it out all together -- in contrast ... Read More
Rating:  - A small book from my kind of scholar
This book lists from six to 22 references at the end of each chapter and includes an index on pages 145-154. Those who find the source of their ideals in humanism might expect to find Edward W. Said providing strong support for the political application of such ideals, as the final selection in this book, "The Public Role of Writers and Intellectuals" (pp. 119-144) was previously published in `The Nation' (2001). Lectures that were begun in January 2000 at Columbia University were expanded in October ... Read More
Rating: - An elegant last work
These series of lectures represent Said at his most eloquent and heartfelt. Brief and therefore not as rigorously argued as his longer works, he makes his case for what studies of the humanities can be, in fact need to be in the 21st century. While making only cursory swipes at his usual opponents (Bernard Lewis, Harold Bloom)his book is more celebratory and admiring of the writers he has emulated and been influenced by: Eric Auerbach most prominently. An elegiac summa from a writer who will be missed.
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