Culture and Imperialism

Culture and Imperialism by Edward W. Said is one of the twentieth century’s most important works of cultural criticism — the companion volume to Orientalism that extends Said’s groundbreaking analysis of the relationship between Western culture and imperial power. Examining canonical novels by Austen, Dickens, Conrad, and others, Said demonstrates how the great works of European literature are inseparable from the colonial project that shaped them — and how the colonised peoples of Asia, Africa, and the Americas have responded through their own cultural production. Published by Bloomsbury, this is a challenging, essential, and ultimately liberating book: one that permanently changes how you read literature by revealing the geopolitical structures embedded in the most celebrated texts. Required reading for students of literature, postcolonial studies, and anyone interested in the relationship between culture and power.