Edward Said was born 90 years ago today – one day after David Harvey. Here’s a piece on Said I wrote earlier this year about his early career – The Early Edward Said, Michel Foucault and Jonathan Swift

Given all his other achievements, Edward Said’s role in bringing Foucault’s work to an anglophone audience is perhaps understated today. His 1971 essay “Abecedarium culturae”, in Northwestern’s literary journal TriQuarterly was a significant piece on so-called “structuralism”, and the following year’s “Michel Foucault as an Intellectual Imagination” was one of the first articles devoted to Foucault in the United States. It was possibly the first, apart from reviews. “Michel Foucault as an Intellectual Imagination” appeared as the first article in the launch issue of boundary 2, invited by William Spanos. “Abecedarium culturae” was reprinted in Modern French Criticism: From Proust and Valery to Structuralism, a collection edited by Foucault’s host for his visits to Buffalo, John K. Simon. Said’s 1975 book Beginnings has a chapter entitled “Abecedarium culturae” which takes material from both the earlier essays. [continues here]

This piece, and one on David Harvey, are part of a series of short essays I’ve been posting this year.