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The Question of Palestine

The Question of Palestine

Edward W. Said and Saree Makdisi

Preface by Saree Makdisi

A major work by one of the great public intellectuals of the twentieth century, The Question of Palestine was the first book to narrate the modern Palestinian experience in English. Edward Said’s project to ‘bring Palestine into history’ was unquestionably a success – there is no longer a question of whether Palestine had a history before colonization – and yet Palestinian self-determination is as distant as ever. With the rigorous scholarship he brought to his influential Orientalism and shaped by his own life in exile in New York, Said’s account of the traumatic national encounter of the Palestinian people with Zionism is still as pertinent and incisive today as it was on first publication in 1979.

About the Authors

Edward Said (1935–2003) was one of the world’s most influential literary and cultural critics. Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, he was the author of twenty-two books, including Orientalism, Culture and Imperialism and Out of Place. He was also a music critic, opera scholar, pianist and the most eloquent...

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Saree Makdisi is an American literary critic and professor. He is of Palestinian and Lebanese descent, and is the nephew of Edward Said. In 2009 he delivered the Edward Said Memorial Lecture at Adelaide University.

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Extent:
384pp
Format:
Paperback
Text publication date:
14 October 2025
ISBN:
9781923058200
AU Price:
$36.99
NZ Price:
$45.00
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Praise for Edward W. Said and Saree Makdisi
andThe Question of Palestine

‘[A]rguably New York’s most famous public intellectual after Hannah Arendt and Susan Sontag, and America’s most prominent advocate for Palestinian rights.’

‘Edward Said is among the truly important intellectuals of our century.’

‘For those of us who see the struggle between Eastern and Western descriptions of the world as both an internal and an external struggle, Edward Said has for many years been an especially important voice.’

‘In this seminal text, Edward Said stridently diagnoses western hypocrisy and makes the case for Palestinian liberation, paving the way for so many thinkers who came after him. I wish it were not so, but The Question of Palestine is just as relevant now as it was in 1979.’

‘This re-issue of The Question of Palestine only lends more weight and value to Edward Said’s work, to his vision and analysis, to the enduring need for his core principles of justice and empathy. Principles that have perhaps never been as severely tested as they are today. Passionate and patient, the book displays all the features that made Said a great thinker and a powerful advocate, whose absence continues to be felt.’

‘In this seminal text, Edward Said stridently diagnoses western hypocrisy and makes the case for Palestinian liberation, paving the way for so many thinkers who came after him. I wish it were not so, but The Question of Palestine is just as relevant now as it was in 1979.’

‘This re-issue of The Question of Palestine only lends more weight and value to Edward Said’s work, to his vision and analysis, to the enduring need for his core principles of justice and empathy. Principles that have perhaps never been as severely tested as they are today. Passionate and patient, the book displays all the features that made Said a great thinker and a powerful advocate, whose absence continues to be felt.’

Other editions ofThe Question of Palestine
  • ebook
    ISBN: 9781923059160
    14 October 2025
    Buy ebook