Might the current period in humanistic studies be known as 'The Age of Edward Said'? Suggesting that the answer is yes, this volume brings together outstanding intellectuals from the wide variety of fields - literary criticism, post colonial studies, musicology, Middle Eastern Studies, anthropology, and journalism - on which Edward Said has made a significant, if not fundamental impact.In a new interview, W. J. T. Mitchell discusses with Said the importance of the visual in his thinking - specifically the works of Goya and Caravaggio - and the ways Said has shaped our understanding of photography and painting. Other essays examine such topics as Said's influence on the American public sphere; the subtle personal politics that inform the relationship between music and emotion; Said's work regarding 'race before racism'; his thought on the matter of language; the juxtaposition of colonial archives, land mines, and truth commissions; the disappearance of the American; and what jazz man Jim Merod calls Said's sublime lyrical abstractions. The contributors are: Jonathan Arac, Paul A. Bove, Terry Cochran, Barbara Harlow, Kojin Karatani, Rashid I. Khalidi, Mustapha Marrouchi, Jim Merod, W. J. T.Mitchell, Gayatri Spivak, and Lindsay Waters.