In the radically changed and highly charged political atmosphere that
has overtaken the United States--and to varying degrees the rest of the
world--since September 11, 2001, the notion that cultures can
harmoniously and productively coexist has come to seem like little more
than a quaint fiction. In this time of heightened animosity and
aggression, have humanistic values and democratic principles become
irrelevant? Are they merely utopian fantasies? Or are they now more
urgent and necessary than ever before?
Ever since the ascendancy of critical theory and multicultural studies
in the 1960s and 1970s, traditional humanistic education has been under
assault. Often condemned as the intolerant voice of the masculine
establishment and regularly associated with Eurocentrism and even
imperialism, the once-sacred literary canon is now more likely to be
ridiculed than revered. While this seismic shift--brought on by advances
in technological communication, intellectual specialization, and
cultural sensitivity--has eroded the former primacy of the humanities,
Edward Said argues that a more democratic form of humanism--one that
aims to incorporate, emancipate, and enlighten--is still possible. A
lifelong humanist, Said believed that self-knowledge is the highest form
of human achievement and the true goal of humanistic education. But he
also believed that self-knowledge is unattainable without an equal
degree of self-criticism, or the awareness that comes from studying and
experiencing other peoples, traditions, and ideas.
Proposing a return to philology and a more expansive literary canon as
strategies for revitalizing the humanities, Said contends that words are
not merely passive figures but vital agents in historical and political
change. Intellectuals must reclaim an active role in public life, but at
the same time, insularity and parochialism, as well as the academic
trend toward needless jargon and obscurantism, must be combated. The
"humanities crisis," according to Said, is based on the misperception
that there is an inexorable conflict between established traditions and
our increasingly complex and diversified world. Yet this position fails
to recognize that the canonized thinkers of today were the
revolutionaries of yesterday and that the nature of human progress is to
question, upset, and reform. By considering the emerging social
responsibilities of writers and intellectuals in an ever more
interdependent world and exploring the enduring influence of Eric
Auerbach's critical masterpiece, Mimesis, Said not only makes a
persuasive case for humanistic education but provides his own
captivating and deeply personal perspective on our shared intellectual
heritage.
