Knowledge means rising above immediacy, beyond self, into the foreign and distant. The object of such knowledge is inherently vulnerable to scrutiny; the object is a ‘fact’ which, if it develops, changes, or otherwise transforms itself in the way that civilizations frequently do, nevertheless is fundamentally, even ontologically stable. To have such knowledge of such a thing is to dominate it, to have authority over it.

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About Edward Said

Edward Said was a 20th-century American palestinian-american academic. Edward Wadie Said 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. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Knowledge — The pursuit of learning, understanding, and intellectual growth
  • Power — The dynamics of influence, authority, and leadership

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