Edward Said on Popular Music

Abstract

Although Edward Said, generally known as one of the founders of postcolonial studies, has written extensively on music, he almost completely ignores popular music. However, the few moments in which he does reflect on popular music are highly revealing. In this article I provide a comprehensive overview and a critical analysis of Said’s public statements on popular music, and argue that these strongly create dissonance with his interventions in postcolonial theory and politics. More specifically, I argue that in these reflections on popular music Said voices problematic elitist, orientalist, and universalist claims. Consequently, Said’s notion of popular music constitutes perhaps the most antagonistic aspect of his oeuvre.