A recent lecture organized by the English Department of An-Najah National University examined the way in which the work of Edward Said explains the colonizing ideology found in literature, commercials, advertisements and artwork in the west. The lecture, which was attended by students and lecturers of the English Department, started with a speech by Dr. Nabeel Alawi who welcomed the audience and emphasized the importance of such lectures and activities.

Dr. Abed Al-Kareem Daraghmeh, of the English Department, opened his lecture with a definition of the terms literary text, critic and post-modernist critical theory. He gave Edward Said’s work as an example that extends the text definition to include journalism and other means that shape a certain kind of culture. This culture is usually a dominating culture for two reasons. The first reason is that a text is no longer what it used to be; it is not limited to a particular form or writer but is now spread through the picture. The second thing is the writer’s role which is important in explaining the ideology behind a text that has certain purposes like colonization or other purposes.

At the end, some images and extracts from documentaries were presented to illustrate the issue, and the discussion was opened to the students.