On September 24th, 2003 (August 28th, 2003 in the lunar calendar), Edward Said, a famous literary theorist and critic, died. Edward Vodier Said (November 1, 1935-September 24, 2003) was born in Jerusalem to a wealthy Arab Christian family. He spent most of his childhood in Cairo, Egypt, and received Western-style education from an early age. In 1953, he entered Princeton University in the United States, got a bachelor's degree, and then got a master's degree and a doctorate degree from Harvard University. For many years, he served as a professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, and also taught at Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University and Yale University. Said speaks fluent English, Arabic and French. In addition, he is also an excellent pianist, and his musical attainments are not shallow. On September 24, 2003, Said died of leukemia in new york. Orientalism Said is best known to the world for his Orientalism. In his book Orientalism published in 1978, he pointed out that the Oriental world in the eyes of western countries in the 19th century had no real basis, and the East appeared out of thin air. The western world had a strong prejudice against the people and cultures of the Arab-Islamic world. Said believes that the long-standing wrong and romanticized impression of Asia and the Middle East in western culture provides an excuse for colonialism in European and American countries. This book has become the classic and theoretical basis of postcolonial discourse. Said's other book, Culture and Imperialism, further expounds the relationship between western culture and western colonialism and imperialism from the perspective of western literature. His On Intellectuals puts forward that intellectuals should be maverick, should not compromise with those in power, and vow to criticize from an independent perspective. Although Palestinian Said is not a Muslim, he has always insisted on advocating the establishment of a Palestinian state. Said had long been a member of the Palestinian National Assembly, but later broke with Arafat over the 1993 Oslo Accords. He believes that the Oslo Accords sold out the territory that belonged to Palestine before 1967. Said has written many books on the Middle East, Palestine and Israel, and edited a magazine Middle East Studies. "In the past 35 years, I have spared no effort to fight for the rights and self-determination of the Palestinian people, but I have never forgotten the present situation of the Jewish people and their sufferings, including persecution and Holocaust. The most important thing now is that Palestinians and Israelis should work together towards a common goal, that is, peaceful coexistence, rather than further oppression and denial." Comments: A famous literary theorist and critic, and an active member of the Palestinian nation-building movement.