Culture and Imperialism

Published by Dar Al-Adab (and translated into Arabic by Dr. Kamal Abu-Deeb), Culture and Imperialism by Edward W. Said serves as a major sequel to his ground-breaking masterpiece Orientalism. Said broadens his analytical scope to demonstrate how Western imperialism was supported, legitimized, and sustained by cultural practices and literary forms. Through close readings of iconic 19th and 20th-century Western literature—including works by Jane Austen, Joseph Conrad, and Albert Camus—he uncovers the embedded imperialist assumptions and geopolitical domination present within celebrated classics. Crucially, the book also highlights the rise of anti-colonial resistance literature across Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, advocating for a "contrapuntal" reading of history that rejects narrow nationalism in favor of a shared human liberatory consciousness.

It is an essential, masterclass reading in postcolonial studies that permanently alters how we read classic Western literature and understand the cultural dimensions of global power dynamics.

Ideal for students and scholars of comparative literature, postcolonial theory, cultural history, and international relations, as well as general readers analyzing global power structures.