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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Edward W. Said y la reflexión sobre Europa

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The aim of the following observations is simply to present a few suggestions derived from the study of the works of an admirable figure whose life was sadly cut short by serious illness. A non-European writer, the insights of Edward W. Said (Jerusalem, 1935—New York, 2003), provide us with an enriching testimony of diverse Eastern and the Western roots and traditions. Strictly speaking, he was forced to consider himself both Arab and Anglo-American from birth. His questioned identity and the permanent feeling of being it of place”, having lived away from his native land since childhood, caused him to feel deeply cut off from his roots and experience, a strange void in his life. This irremediable e1ing of exile, unfortunately so widespread nowadays, is still a tragic feeling for many of compatriots, the vast number of Palestinians expelled from their homes by those who so recently been the victims of an appalling genocide. The painful but liberating extraterritoriality from which Said wrote may help us appreciate certain dimensions and genealogies present in the construction of what we consider as “ours”, that is, what is supposedly “European”, since it is no coincidence that we tend to forget them, perhaps be- cause they make us feel uneasy. In all events, this proposal is suggested as an attempt to share lessons that have altered the way we understand ourselves.