From Counterpoint to Heterophony and Back Again: Reading Edward Said’s Drafts for Culture and Imperialism

Abstract

It is common in the academic reception of the legacy of Edward Said to limit the analysis of his theorization of a contrapuntal perspective on colonial history to the dominant theme of Said’s published writings. Nevertheless, alternative narratives emerge in unpublished texts preserved in the Edward W. Said Papers at Columbia University. Archival research reveals that Said actually proposes a heterophonic, instead of contrapuntal, perspective in early drafts for Culture and Imperialism (1993). Said’s legacy itself requires a heterophonic reading to analyze the overlap and interactions of these variations in his writings.