I have never known what is Arabic or English, or which one was really mine beyond any doubt. What I do know, however, is that the two have always been together in my life, one resonating in the other, sometimes ironically, sometimes nostalgically, most often each correcting, and commenting on, the other. Each can seem like my absolutely first language, but neither is.
Interpretation
The quote reflects on the intertwining nature of languages and identity, suggesting that they shape one's perception and experience of the world.
Edward Said shares his personal experience of navigating between Arabic and English, highlighting how these two languages coexist within him and influence each other. He expresses a duality in his identity, where both languages feel like a part of him yet none can be claimed as his sole origin. This interplay creates a rich tapestry of understanding, where each language offers unique insights and reflections on the other, defining his complex relationship with culture and communication.
In practice
When discussing the challenges of bilingual individuals in a multicultural society.
All knowledge that is about human society, and not about the natural world, is historical knowledge, and therefore rests upon judgment and interpretation. This is not to say that facts or data are nonexistent, but that facts get their importance from what is made of them in interpretation… for interpretations depend very much on who the interpreter is, who he or she is addressing, what his or her purpose is, at what historical moment the interpretation takes place.
Uninformed and yet open to appeals for justice as they are, Americans are capable of reacting as they did to the ANC campaign against apartheid, which finally changed the balance of forces inside South Africa.
Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package that has gone through a kind of processing.
Since the time of Homer every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.
Much as I have no wish to hurt anyone's feelings, my first obligation has not been to be nice but to be true to my perhaps peculiar memories, experiences and feelings.
It is quite common to hear high officials in Washington and elsewhere speak of changing the map of the Middle East, as if ancient societies and myriad peoples can be shaken up like so many peanuts in a jar.
Is it possible to reproduce, later in life, the impact that books, records, and films have between the ages of fourteen and seventeen? The periods of my adult life that have been most miserable have been those in which I lost fidelity to what I discovered then.
When you desire the common good, the whole world desires with you. Make humanity's desire your own and work for it. There you cannot fail.
It is important to ask ourselves, as citizens, whether a world power can provide global leadership on the basis of fear and anxiety.
Mad Hatter: “Why is a raven like a writing-desk?” “Have you guessed the riddle yet?” the Hatter said, turning to Alice again. “No, I give it up,” Alice replied: “What’s the answer?” “I haven’t the slightest idea,” said the Hatter
Memoir is not an act of history but an act of memory, which is innately corrupt.
People forget that when you're 16, you're probably more serious than you'll ever be again. You think seriously about the big questions.
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