Edward Said and exile: a gaze at counterpoint

Abstract

This article attempts to analyze the concept of exile in the work of Edward Said. The central idea that our author has of this term is this: even if the term of exile is inconsistent in the metaphorical sense that he defends, it is enriching for intellectual work, since, from this perspective, provides a different vision through which, an exiled intellectual can analyze the historical experience. In other words, Said believes that even authors who are not exiles in real terms and fully belong to their respective societies, can adopt this vision, because, among other things, it provides a distance that allows the critic’s opening to a global vision that transcends ideological boundaries so that he can be the others and their culture in their humanistic context. The methodology used in this article aims to put under the light of criticism the interesting, although contradictory, concept of exile that Said proposed as a tool for Cultural Studies. In short, this paper aims at demonstrating the interest of Edward’s approximation to the concept of exile. In fact, his own work is largely influenced by authors who have been exiles for excellence, and that somehow determined the kind of criticism that he exerted throughout his life.