Edward Said and the Space of Exile

Abstract

In his memoir, Out of Place (1999), Edward Said described the condition of exile as the source of his most deeply held beliefs about himself and the world. His use of exile as a metaphor is in several ways analogous to the ways in which diasporic religious communities orient themselves in relation to space and time. Although Said was critical of the dangerous idea of sacred space, the space of exile is in certain respects similar to a religious myth in its shaping influence on his life, as revealed in his autobiography.