ABSTRACT
Concerned about Western historical amnesia and selective remembrance, Edward Said demands critical reexamination of the imperial and colonial experiences. Said explains that the intention is not merely to evoke greater admission of Western responsibility for its imperial degradations but to increase awareness among both the colonizer and the colonized of the legacies of imperialism and colonialism and how they continue to shape cultures and social relations and practices at both the national and the international levels. Although Said grants that the kinds of scholarly and intellectual engagements for which he is calling have begun in several quarters, he states that “concern with the issue has not been intense” and that there is much “more to be done.” Looking toward the further invigoration and extension of such endeavors, he points to the works of the British historian V. G. Kiernan as being “milestones” and models for them. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.