***Aff***

***Orientalism Bad***
Alternative DA Replicates Harms
De-orientalism silences the Other
Levinson, 1-- Professor and Chair, Comparative Literature, Undergraduate Advisor and Co-Director PLC
(Philosophy, Literature and the Theory of Criticism) (rett, !"rientalism and #dentity in Latin America$, The University of
Ari%ona Press, &'(), The Death of the Criti*ue of +urocentrism pg &(),,#-
And de-orientalism !no"s this# that the Others have al"a$s %ro!en thro&'h
silence, even if their voices, sighs, and screams (of .oy and pain) have rarely /een heard0
De--orientalism is "ell a"are that the metaphor of the (formerl$ silent
native( (Culture and #mperialism &(&) is )&st a metaphor and not literall$ tr&e*
1hy, then, must the de-orientalist deploy this metaphor of silence2 +hat is de-
orientalism tr$in' to snea! onto the postcolonial scene "hen it posits the
Other,s &nreco'ni-ed speech and noise as nonspeech and nonnoise. /imple
lo'ic dictates that the de-orientalist metaphor of silence reflects a desire for
precisel$ the Others silence* 0n fact onl$ this silence can '&arantee of
speech is that it "ill disr&pt silence* (3irst, of course, the silence has to /e
supposed0) 1herefore "hen de-orientalism spea!s o&t a'ainst this silence,
4hich it itself imposes through metaphor, it a priori emancipates /oth itself and the
"ther from s&ppression and oppression, from the enforced silence0 De-orientalism
most definitely opens the 4ay for the "ther5s insurgent speech, /ut it is .ust as true that
the "ther5s silence open the 4ay for de-orientalism5s claims0 1his is "h$ de-
orientalism desires the Others silence %efore it desires the Others speech,
"h$ it 'ro&nds that speech on ima'inar$ or metaphorical silence, on a
fantas$ or %lantant misreadin' * #t 4ants the "ther to spea60 ut first it "ants the
Other to %e silent so that de-orientalism itself can spea! more sec&rel$ , so
that its criti2&e is ass&red to %e radical, !no"n to %e Other, '&aranteed to
&pset the imposition of silence* #n short, the coloni%er and the decoloni%er are
una4are of their common desire for the "ther5s silence (or death)0 7atters are of course
complicated0 The coloni%er 4ants the "ther5s death and silence /ut also his la/or, his life0
8o dou/t the "rientalist5s imposition of /a//le upon the "ther5s speech is geared to
communicate this dou/le desire9 for an irrational, thus animal-li6e, and e:ploita/le life0
ut insofar as the coloni%er truly desires the "ther5s silence /y simulating violence
through rhetoric, through a poetics0 #t silences the "ther through a turn of phrase0 0t
!ills the Others voice in order to %rin' %ac! that voice, to redeem it thro&'h
3poetr$4, thro&'h trope*
5e' attempts at de-orientali-in' onl$ res&lt in rene"ed orientalism6
ontolo'i-es the Other and c&lt&ral differences
Levinson, 1 -- Professor and Chair, Comparative Literature, Undergraduate Advisor and Co-Director PLC
(Philosophy, Literature and the Theory of Criticism) (rett, !"rientalism and #dentity in Latin America$, The University of
Ari%ona Press, &'(), The Death of the Criti*ue of +urocentrism pg &()
"rientalism is a term that +d4ard ;aid e:cavates and retools in /oo6s "rientalism and Culture and #mperialism0 <e la/els
"rientalist 1estern discourse that, /y constructing and imagining the non-1estern= 4orld in pre.udicial or violent modes,
generates and affirms 1estern hegemony* Orientalism deals "ith the "a$ a partic&lar 7irst
+orld, +estern s&%)ect, in its representations of peoples and sites of the
1hird +orld, esta%lishes itself as the &niversal s&%)ect* 1he criti2&e of
Orientalism, "hich 0 shall call de-orientalism (not to /e confused 4ith "ccidentalism or the
reversal of "rientalism), tries to dismantle this Orientalist disco&rse* 0t veils the
misconceptions and %iases that Orientalisim itself %oth and conceals* De-
orientalism also attempts to restore the "ron'ed or violated disco&rses* 7or
it Orientalism a%)ects other "orlds, it onl$ ma!es sense that the criti2&e of
Orientalisrn "o&ld attempt to recover that e8cl&ded domain, to rec&perate
a s&%)ectivit$ of difference* One cannot %e at all s&re, ho"ever, that this
critical response to Orientalism act&all$ avoids participatin' in the ver$
disco&rse that it contests, especiall$ "hen one considers the pro)ect in
terms of its overall teleolo'$* efore pursuing this last point, a 4ord on this study5s use of the term "ther
is necessary0 ;aid5s criti*ue of "rientalism does not intend to define the Third 1orld "ther0 >ather ;aid demonstrates
ho4 vertain cultures and races have /een "thered0 Orientalism is not a%o&t the deval&ation of
the Other, as man$ seem to %elieve9 it is a%o&t Otherin' as deval&ation* #ndeed
non-1estern sites are a/.ected the moment they are "thered0 ;aid5s Third 1orld "ther is not an ontological /ut an
e:istential category0 #t emerges 4hen, in a particular historical, cultural, or political situation, a 1estern discourse
o/.ectifies the foreign or the unfamiliar0 #n this structure, any person, group, class, or site can potentially occupy the place
of the "ther or that of the ;ame0 Therefore much Latin American scholarship that seems faithful to ;aid5s pro.ect actually
/etrays it (although it must /e noted that ;aid too at times /etrays his o4n underta6ing)0 1his scholarship
ass&mes Latin America to %e A priori Other, reveals ho" this Otherness has
%een violated, and then tries to recover that alterit$0 #t presupposes an authentic "ther 4ho
pree:ists an inauthentic "thering, 4hereas ;aid5s criti*ue succeeds insofar as it does not ma6e such presuppositions0 This
(perhaps inevita/le) slippage in Latin American and postcolonial studies /et4een the ontological and the cultural, the
essential and the e:istential-/et4een a reading that posits Third 1orld inha/itants as "ther (an ontological statement)
and one that studies the 4ay that, at a specific historical moment, particular discourses and peoples have fa/ricated this
"therness (a cultural statement)-is of course of enormous interest0 <o4ever, critics striving to e:pose the radical aspects
of ;aid5s 4or6 should not forget that the ;aidian "ther is not a given /ut a construct9 a product of the 1est, racism,
metaphysics, and glo/al Capi-tal0 Thus 4hen # implement the 4ord "ther in this study, l am referring to those figures 4ho
have /een named and posited as "ther /y 1estern discourses, not to peoples or sites supposed to /e really (ontologically)
"ther0 At the same time, m$ anal$sis is attentive to de-orientalism,s :and
/aid,s; tendenc$ to slide from the c&lt&ral to the ontolo'ical, for this is
precisel$ m$ point# Latin American de-orientalism repeats Orientalism
rather than criti2&in' it, %eca&se it ontolo'i-es alterit$ and c&lt&ral
difference*
De-orientalism recreates the same representational tr&ths it
critici-es, flips the !
Levinson, 1-- Professor and Chair, Comparative Literature, Undergraduate Advisor and Co-Director PLC
(Philosophy, Literature and the Theory of Criticism) (rett, !"rientalism and #dentity in Latin America$, The University of
Ari%ona Press, &'(), The Death of the Criti*ue of +urocentrism pg &()
This all e:plains ho4 the de-orientalist, 4hen faced 4ith the erased documents, the repression or silence of the
"ther, can nonetheless put forth theses a/out the "ther?s perspective as truth0 The de-orientalist comprehends
the Other,s visions %$ catchin' them in the rearvie" mirror of the
<&rocentric /ame that he or she criti2&es* <e or she then dra4s a metaphysical line /et4een the
false mirror itself (the ;ame, discourse, "rientalism) and the intuited (rather than manifest) lost "ther that the mirror
reflects9 truth, or silence as truth0 #n /rief, the de-orientalist "ther, supposedly a construct, is "ther precisely /ecause it
transcends construction0 #t is not the "ther at all, then, /ut the eidos0 The structure of de-orientalism is that of truth
/ecause, as in Platonism, it separates an off-stage @"ther-than representation$ domain from a visi/le, on stage, field of
representation0 The fact that de-orientalism stands today as one of the most truthful and accurate means /y 4hich to
analy%e imperialism is therefore not surprising0 ut nor is it surprising that the criti*ue, 4hen it
tac6les the unavoida/le second pro.ect, the anal$sis of the Other of imperialism,
necessaril$ falls %ac! into the paradi'ms it see!s to &ndo* #ndeed due to his or
her investment in truth, the de-orientalist does not dismantle %&t resta'es
Orientalism %$ t&rnin' the 2&estion of Otherness into a reflection of or
&pon the /ante* De-orientalism is too tr&e to %e 'ood %eca&se it i'nores the
coll&sion of +estern metaph$sics and +estern politics* 0t ref&ses to
ac!no"led'e that the political disco&rse that criti2&es the +est (de-orienialism) is
identical to the epistemolo'ical disco&rse :of tr&th; that 'ro&nds the +est,
since %oth disco&rses are fo&nded on the same criti2&e of representation*
/aids method is fla"ed
5in' =>(1ang 8ing, Professor of +nglish and Comparative Literature at Pe6ing
University, "rientalism versus "ccidentalism2, Pro.ect 7use)
As *uite a fe4 +astern and 1estern scholars have already noticed, ho4ever, the (Orient( and
(Orientalism( constr&cted %$ /aid have their inevita%le limitations, "hich
lie chiefl$ in their 'eo'raphical, c&lt&ral, and literar$ aspects0 #t is these
limitations that provide &s 1hird +orld scholars and critics "ith a
theoretical %asis on "hich to 2&estion and reconsider his Orientalism* ?
7irst, 4e should point out its 'eo'raphical limitation, 4hich is restricted %$ his famil$
%ac!'ro&nd, as "ell as his scope of !no"led'e and learnin'* As is 4ell 6no4n, the
@"rient,@ geographically spea6ing, covers at least the 4ide areas of Asia, Africa, and Australia, /ut in ;aid?s /oo6, the
/oundary line stops at the 8ear +ast and 7iddle +ast* /&ch re'ions as /o&theast Asia and s&ch
important Oriental co&ntries as @hina, 0ndia, and Aapan are seldom to&ched
&pon9 the$ pose a serio&s limitation to his theor$ although he has added certain corrective
analyses in his ne4 /oo6 Culture and #mperialism0A /econd, his (Orient( or (Orientalism( also
has its ideolo'ical and c&lt&ral limitations* As far as its ideological and cultural significance is
concerned, the (+estern( idea or c&lt&re that "e &s&all$ deal "ith in effect
refers to the ideolo'$ or c&lt&ral concepts %ased on the %o&r'eois val&e
standard prevailin' in +estern <&rope and 5orth America, "hile those
contrar$ to them are normall$ re'arded as the (Oriental( concepts* #t is on the
/asis of this stri6ing difference in ideology and culture that the +ast and the 1est 4ere in a state of opposition during the
cold-4ar period after 1orld 1ar ##= 4ith the end of the cold 4ar, +ast-1est relations have entered a post-cold 4ar period,
during 4hich, according to ;amuel <untington, @The great divisions among human6ind and the dominating source of
conflict 4ill /e cultural0 8ation states 4ill remain the most po4erful actors in 4orld affairs, /ut the principal conflicts of
glo/al politics 4ill occur /et4een nations and groups of different civili%ations0 1he clash of civili-ations
"ill dominate 'lo%al politics*( B Among "riental cultures, the @most prominent form of this cooperation
is the Confucian-#slamic connection that has emerged to challenge 1estern interests, values and po4er@ (CD)0
H&ntin'ton has here correctl$ 'rasped the t"o ori'ins of Oriental c&lt&res,
the Ara/ countries and China, "hich have, especially the latter, %een overloo!ed %$ /aid* ?
7oreover, d&e to the limitations of other 'eo'raphical and ideolo'ical factors,
/aid,s Orientalism, in the sense of "riental studies, nat&rall$ leads to his limitation in
comparative literat&re st&dies# the te8ts he disc&sses are mostl$ from the
<n'lish or en'lish -spea!in' "orld rather than from the non-+nglish-spea6ing or other Third-1orld
countries, 4hile comparative literature is not only cross-national and interdisciplinary /ut also cross-cultural and cross-
linguistic0 #n this 4ay, the limitations of his research as "ell as that of all the
postcolonial academic E+nd Page B(B st&dies are o%vio&sl$ discerni%le0 #t is true that to
conduct comparative literature studies from the postcolonial perspective could /rea6 through the /oundary line of
geography and disciplines, /ut cannot /rea6 through the /oundary line of languages, 4hich is the very pro/lem that 4e
"riental scholars of comparative literature and cultural studies must solve in our research0
/aids concept of orientalism leads to orientalism
Lando" CD(Feorge P0 Lando4, Professor of +nglish and Art <istory, ro4n University,
7arch (G &''&, +d4ard 10 ;aid?s "rientalism,
http9,,4440postcolonial4e/0org,poldiscourse,said,orient(C0html,P;)
Dra4ing upon the methods of feminist criticism of the (HI's, ;aid?s "rientalism did much to create the field of
postcolonial studies /y teaching us to @read for the gap,@ placing te:ts in /road political conte:ts0 Despite its o/viously
valid points a/out 4ea6nesses of +uro-American thought, its appeal for 1estern intellectuals, and its li/erating effect on
intellectuals from former countries that 4ere coloni%ed, this seminal /oo6 has some ma.or fla4s9A Though enormously
effective as a polemic, Orientalism is ver$ shodd$ as scholarship, and $et it presents
itself as a corrective to fla"ed scholarship*A 1he %oo! completel$ ne'lects
@hina, Aapan, and /o&th <ast Asia, and it has ver$ little to sa$ a%o&t 0ndia*
Altho&'h p&rportin' to %e a st&d$ of ho" the +est treats all of the <ast, the
%oo! foc&ses almost entirel$ &pon the Eiddle <ast* #ts 'enerali-ations a%o&t
(the Orient( therefore repeat the ver$ Orientalism it attac!s in other te8tsF ? #t
is /i%arrely forgiving of 3rench "rientalist 4riters li6e 8erval and 3lau/ert0A Orientalism is an orientalist
te8t several times over, and in t4o 4ays commits the ma.or errors involved 4ith the idea of the "ther9 3irst,
it ass&mes that s&ch pro)ection and its harmf&l political conse2&ences are
somethin' that onl$ the +est does to the <ast rather than somethin' all
societies do to one another* (# am surely not the only teacher 4ho has had heard Asian-American
students returning from their parent?s country of origin e:claim, @+verything ;aid says the 1est does to the +ast, the +ast
does to the 1estJ@)A Beca&se Orientalism is apparentl$ %ased on ver$ little
!no"led'e of the histor$ of <&ropean and 5on-<&ropean imperialism, it
treats +estern colonialism as &ni2&e* This point, li6e the previous one, ma6es perfect sense if one
ta6es ;aid?s pioneering /oo6 largely as a political polemic, for in that case such omissions might /e forgiva/le0 One
e8pects more from criticism and scholarship, partic&larl$ politicall$
motivated criticism and scholarship* ? Altho&'h 'reatl$ infl&enced %$
feminist criticism and theor$, Orientalism almost completel$ ne'lects
'ender matters0 Although emphasi%ing the 4ay the 1est se:uali%es the +ast, it also tends to repeat the pattern,
and, moreover, its generally favora/le treatment of 3rench orientali%ation suggests a great insensitivity to such issues,A 3or
many scholars, one of Orientalism,s most offensive claims "as its dramatic
assertion that no <&ropean or American scholar co&ld (!no"( the Orient
and that, moreover, all scholarl$ attempts to do so :e8cept /aid,s o"n;
al"a$s constit&ted acts of oppression0 #n a single dramatic move, 4hich had great appeal for many,
/aid committed the 'reatest sin'le scholarl$ sin# he silenced others %$
preventin' them from ta!in' part in the de%ate* Accordin' to /aid, if
someone !ne" Gersian or 1amil 'rammar, the history of #slam or <induism, or the societies of
;audi Ara/ia, +ygpt, or angladesh, he or she alread$ %elon'ed to the devil,s part$* 1he$
"ere corr&pted %$ "hat /aid defined as Orientalism* 3or ;aid, 4ho studied literature at
Princeton and <arvard, this proved a very convenient tactic, since he 6ne4 very little a/out these alien fields0 #ndeed, one
of the /itterest charges directed at him 4as that in his o"n Orientalist i'norance of the act&al
Eiddle <ast, /aid himself in effect s&ppressed important "or! %$ <'$ptian
and Ara%ic scholarsF ? 1hatever li/eratory or other /enefits "rientalism might have offered upon its
appearance, it has harmed literary studies and literary students0 y focusing e:clusively on the political valences of literary
te:ts, it has very little to offer those also interested their literary or aesthetic dimensions0 +ven those 4ith little interest in
such non-political themes have /een harmed /y the school of thought Orientalism has fostered# its
political ar'&ment, "hich first enriched familiar te8ts, impoverishes "hen it
leads to a ne'lect of literar$ and rhetorical techni2&e0 (8ote9 ;aid does not himself argue
against ac*uiring such s6ills, /ut those 4ho follo4 him often do0)A +ven if all these charges 4ere true (and # /elieve they
are), ;aid?s "rientalism remains a ma.or 4or60 1hy do you thin6 this is the case2 <o4 is the /oo6 larger than the local
conditions in 4hich it 4as produced2 1hy do the /oo6?s strengths, rather than its 4ea6nesses, appear far more important
to a scholar 4or6ing in, say, 7orocco, ;ingapore, or #ndia2
H @a&ses 1errorism
Orientalist criticism f&els terrorism he distorts the tr&th
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 (G-(H)
lt ta6es courage for an Ara/ to 4rite self-criticism of this 6ind= indeed0 4ithout theA
personal pronoun @4e,@ ho4 many 4ould have guessed that an Ara/0 let aloneA +d4ard
;aid0 had 4ritten it2 And yet, ironically0 4hat ma6es self-e:amination forA Ara/s and
7uslims0 and especially criticism of #slam in the 1est0 very difficult isA the totally
pernicious influence of <d"ard /aids Orientalism0 The latter 4or6A ta&'ht an
entire 'eneration of Ara%s the art of self-pit$-@4ere it not for theA 4ic6ed
imperialists, racists and Lionists, 4e 4ould /e great once more@-enco&ra'ed the
0slamic f&ndamentalist 'eneration of the l=ICs, %l&d'eoned into silence?
an$ criticism of lslam, and even stopped dead the research of eminent
lslamolo'ists 4ho felt their findings might offend 7uslim sensi/ilities and 4ho dared
notA ris6 /eing la/eled @'rientalist0@ 1he a''ressive tone of Orientalism is 4hat l
haveA called (intellect&al terrorism,( since it see!s to convince not %$
ar'&ments or historical anal$sis, %&t %$ spra$in' char'es of racism,
imperialism, and <&rocentrism? from a moral hi'h 'ro&nd9 an$one "ho
disa'rees "ith /aid has ins&lt heaped? &pon him* The moral high ground is an
essential element in ;aid?s tactics0 ;inceA he /elieves his position is morally
unimpeacha/le0 /aid o%vio&sl$ thin!s he is )&stified in &sin' an$ means
possi%le to defend it, incl&din' the distortion of the? vie"s of eminent
scholars, interpretin' intellect&al and political histor$ in a? hi'hl$
tendentio&s "a$-in short, t"istin' the tr&th0 ut in any case0 he does notA /elieve
in the @truth0@ A ;aid attac6s not only the entire discipline of "rientalism 4hich is
devotedA to the academic study of the "rient and 4hich ;aid accuses of perpetuating
negative racial stereotypes, anti-Ara/ and anti-#slamic pre.udice, and the myth ofA an
unchanging, essential @"rient,@ /ut he also accuses "rientalists as /eing aA group
complicit 4ith imperial po4er and holds them responsi/le for creatingA the distinction
/et4een 1estem superiority and "riental inferiority, 4hich theyA achieve /y suppressing
the voice of the @"riental@ and /y their antihuman tendency to ma6e huge0 /ut vague,
generali%ations a/out entire populations that inA reality consist of millions of individuals0
#n other 4ords, m&ch of "hat "as? "ritten a%o&t the Orient in 'eneral* and
0slam and 0slamic civili-ation in partic-? &lar, "as false* The Orientalists also
stand acc&sed of creatin' (the Other(-the? non-<&ropean, al"a$s
characteri-ed in a ne'ative "a$, as, for e:ample, passive,A 4ea6, and in need of
civili%ing /y the advanced 1est (contrasting 1esternA strength 4ith +astern 4ea6ness)0A
Orientalism ca&ses anti-american sentiment and %reeds terrorism
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 CH-D')
>0 ;tephen <umphreys found /aid,s /oo6 important in some 4ays /ecauseA it sho"ed
ho" some Orientalists "ere indeed (trapped "ithin a vision that portra$ed
0slam and the Eiddle <ast as in some "a$ essentiall$ different from (the?
+est*( 8onetheless, @+d4ard ;aid?s anal$sis of Orientalism is overdra"n and?
misleadin' in man$ "a$s, and p&rel$ as JaB piece of intellect&al histor$,
Orientalism is a serio&sl$ fla"ed %oo!*( <ven more damnin', /aid,s %oo!
act&all$ disco&ra'ed, argues <umphreys, the ver$ idea of moderni-ation of
Eiddle <astern? societies* @#n an ironic 4ay, it also em%oldened the 0slamic
activists and militants? "ho "ere then )&st %e'innin' to enter the political
arena* 1hese co&ld &se /aid? to attac! their opponents in the Eiddle <ast as
slavish (+esternists "ho "ere? o&t of to&ch "ith the a&thentic c&lt&re and
val&es of their o"n co&ntries* ;aid5s A /oo6 has had less impact on the study of
medieval #slamic history M partlyA /ecause medievalists 6no4 ho4 distorted his account
of classical 1estern "rientalism really is2@
0mpact 1&rn /mall +ars Kood
/mall "ars promote political and social chan'e in +estern societies
Bar!a"i I (Tara6 ar6a4i, ),&B,&''G, Ph0D0, Political ;cience, University of
7innesota, 70;c0, #nternational >elations, London ;chool of +conomics 0A0,
#nternational Affairs and Philosophy, Feorge 1ashington University, !"rientalism at
1ar in -orea,$
http9,,citation0allacademic0com,meta,pNmlaNapaNresearchNcitation,&,D,&,B,&,p&D&B
&&Ninde:0html)
This paper is a preliminary Othought piece5 for a ne4 /oo6 pro.ect concerned 4ithA the fate of assumptions of 1estern
superiority in the face of military reverse at the handsA of non-+uropean others0 As a matter of historical o/servation,
small "ars 'one "ron'A increasin'l$ have come to pla$ prominent roles in
metropolitan politics and societ$*A Golitical and c&lt&ral contestation over
limited "ars 'enerated %$ imperial commitmentsA comes to a head "hen
thin's do not 'o as e8pected0 The political fortunes of en.aminA Disraeli, 1illiam Fladstone, Pules 3erry,
3rancesco Crispi and 1illiam 7c-inley,A among others, revolved in some measure around Osmall 4ars50 1ith the turn of
theA t4entieth century, especially its last half, the severity and conse*uences of defeat /eganA to mount0 Anti-
colonial, nationalist "ars in the 1hird +orld led to re'ime chan'e inA 7rance
and Gort&'al, "hile the Lietnam +ar remains the sin'le most si'nificant
momentA in American politics and society since (HCD0 1hat this histor$ s&''ests is the
enormo&sA po"er of "ar a'ainst non-<&ropean others to 'enerate political,
social and c&lt&ralA reaction and chan'e in +estern societies* A The generative
character, the c&lt&ral and social prod&ctivit$, of s&ch "ars is aA conse2&ence of
the constit&tive role of the Orient, %roadl$ &nderstood, in +esternA
identities* /&ch identities are committed, in diverse "a$s, to notions of
+estern vitalit$,A stren'th and dominance over the Orient0 At the same time, these
identities evince a fearA of, and a fascination "ith, the Orient* As s&ch,
evidence of Oriental po"er and potenc$,A s&ch as for e8ample the rise of
Aapan or @hina, have the capacit$ to disr&pt +estern narratives, leadin' not
onl$ to moments of self-do&%t and criti2&e %&t also f&ellin'A ener'ies for
chan'e or redo&%led efforts at contin&ed dominance in ne" circ&mstances0A
There is no more o/vious sign of 1estern 4ea6ness and "riental strength than defeat inA /attle or failure to o/tain
victory0 Unsurprisingly then, s&ch set%ac!s %ecome sites ofA c&lt&ral disr&ption and
prod&ction at all levels of +estern societ$0
Orientalism is 0nevita%le
Orientalism is inevita%le
HM%inette- C orientalist e:pert- has 4ritten many scholarly articles relating
orientalism and 1estern Dominance (To/ias, !"rientalism Past and Present$, H,I,'),
http9,,4440to/ias hu/inette0se,orientalism0pd),,A-
;ince the end of the (HI's, most academic institutions in the 1est have more or less accepted the
criti*ue on classical orientalism and tried to distance themselves from their
predecessors0 #nstead, it is in the form of popular orientalism that the discourse has managed to survive in the 1est as a romantic
and colonial nostalgia reproduced in arts, movies and literature0 This 6ind of popular orientalism is for e:ample e:tremely 4ell-represented
in commercials here in ;4eden0 ;o finally there is a time to as6 ourselves- is there a 4ay out of orientalism , and can
4e imagine a 4orld /eyond orientalism2 can 4e imagine a 4orld /eyond orientalism2 1ell, my personal guess is
that orientalism "ill al"a$s e8ist in one or another form as lon' as the +est
has he'emonic po"er* Orientalism is stron'l$ intert"ined "ith the +estern
self-ima'e to s&ch an e8tant that if orientalism 'oes, then +estern "orld
po"er or even the +est itself m&st also 'o 0 And isnQt that 4hat 4e are seeing today, a slo4 /ut
unstoppa/le po4er shift from the 1est to4ards +ast Asia 4ith China and Papan in the forefront, may/e also ;outh Asia 4ith #ndia as a
leading nation, 4hile the academic 4orld itself is undergoing of a rapid Asiani%ation, giving 4ay to a more or less higher competence of
higher diaspora Asians in the su/.ects involved0
***Aff 7+***
Adv 0NLs o" Reps
Appro8imate ca&se oN"s representational 2&estions "e can !no"
ca&se and effect
Rotter D!- Professor of <istory at Colgate University (The American <istorical Rie4,
!>evie4 +ssays ;aidism 4ithout ;aid9 "rientalism and U0;0 Diplomatic <istory$,D,),'',
Pstor, (&'D-(&(I) ,,A-
A third and yet more trou/ling pro%lem for historians reading Orientalism is
;aid?s d&%io&s epistemolo'ical relationship to matters of ca&se and effect0
Discourse theory and postmodernism generally have sha6en old certainties a/out
history as a 6ind of science, a divining rod, 4hich, properly 4ielded, 4ill indicate the
truth0 #n the postmodern universe, there is no truth, .ust self-serving @realities@
promoted /y regimes of po4er0 @>eality is the creature of language,@ and @1estern 7an
a modern-day Fulliver, tied do4n 4ith ideological ropes and incapa/le of
transcendence /ecause he can never get /eyond the veil of language to the reality ?out
there,?@ as three historians have summari%ed it0 3ollo4ing 8iet%sche and <eidegger,
postmodernists li6e 7ichel 3oucault deny the linearity of the historical process= thus
@causation should /e pitched out0@ 3or /etter or 4orse, most historians still /elieve
that they are engaged in a search for reasons 4hy things happened as they did0 An
event occurs, li6e the American >evolution0 #t is not, they say, a construct or a
representation /ut a revolution, properly named0 There are reasons 4hy the revolution
occurred, and even though historians might assign different 4eights to these reasons
or argue over 4hether some of them mattered at all , the$ still %elieve that the
ca&ses of the revol&tion are !no"a%le, that the$ preceded the act of
revol&tion itself, and that the$ are important to &nderstand*
@a&se and effect oN"- disco&rsive theor$ is "ron'
Rotter D!- Professor of <istory at Colgate University (The American <istorical Rie4,
!>evie4 +ssays ;aidism 4ithout ;aid9 "rientalism and U0;0 Diplomatic <istory$,D,),'',
Pstor, (&'D-(&(I) ,,A-
7or diplomatic historians, the lin! %et"een ca&se and effect is cr&cial, and
this constit&tes another area of disa'reement "ith /aid0 #n a perceptive (HHD
Diplomatic <istory essay, 7elvyn P0 Leffler complained that (the post-modernist
emphasis on c&lt&re, lan'&a'e, and rhetoric often diverts attention from
2&estions of ca&sation and a'enc$0@ The pro/lem 4ith discourse theory specifically
@is that although 4e might learn that seemingly unconnected phenomena are related in
some diffuse 4ays, 4e do not necessarily get much insight into ho4 relatively important
these relationships are to one another0@ And Leffler *uotes Patric6 "?rien9 @?3oucault?s
study of culture is a history 4ith /eginnings /ut no causes0@? Leffler does not
mention ;aid, /ut insofar as ;aid employs 3oucauldian analysis in his 4or6, the
criticism could apply to him as 4ell0
@a&sation o"s Reps 1heor$
O&r internal lin!s o&t"ei'h $o&r representation %ased ar'&ments
ca&sation is more responsi%le for harms
Rotter D!- Professor of <istory at Colgate University (The American <istorical Rie4,
!>evie4 +ssays ;aidism 4ithout ;aid9 "rientalism and U0;0 Diplomatic <istory$,D,),'',
Pstor, (&'D-(&(I) ,,A-
#f most historians continue to /elieve that esta/lishing the cause of things is a
meaningful part of their enterprise, even more insistently do diplomatic historians hold
to this principle0 That is /ecause so m&ch is at sta!e# most scholars of O*/*
forei'n polic$ are interested in e8pansionism, imperialism, and
&ltimatel$ "ar* Fiven the field of analysis, the dismissal of cause seems
irresponsi/le, for people should try to understand 4hat causes imperialism and 4ar, and
4here po4er has such solemn conse*uences it seems trivial to e*uate it 4ith 6no4ledge0
Go"er, say diplomatic historians, is economic and militar$ s&periorit$, not
narrative a&thorit$* 0mperialism is not )&st an attit&de* +ar is not
preeminentl$ a disco&rse*
5o meanin' 5eoli%eralism doesnt mean an$thin'
1he H is incoherent 5eoli%eralism means nothin' and is a process,
not an end point
/prin'er 1D- University of Rictoria, Department of Feography and <istory (;imon,
!8eoli/eralism as discourse9 /et4een 3oucauldian political economy and7ar:ian
poststructuralism$, D,(&, http9,,academia0edu,DH&)I',8eoli/eralism NasN
discourseN/et4eenN3oucauldianNpoliticalNeconomyNandN7ar:ianNpoststructuralism)
,,A-
"n the other hand, some have called for a moment of pause, suggesting that "e sho&ld %e "ar$ of overl$
concrete or introspective anal$ses of the local, as s&ch acco&nts
inade2&atel$ attend to the principal attri%&tes and meanin'f&l %onds of
neoli%eralism as a 'lo%al pro)ect(renner S Theodore, &''&= Pec6 S Tic6ell, &''&)0 The Olarger
conversation5 that neoli/eralism provo6es is regarded as imperative in connecting similar patterns of e:periences across
space, 4hich may serve as a potential /asis for /uilding solidarities (see rand S 1issen, &''D=+sco/ar, &''(=
3eatherstone, &''D= -ohl, &''B= >outledge, &'')= ;pringer, &''G, &'((/=1illis, ;mith, S ;tenning, &''G)0 Thus
neoli/eralism as a concept allo4s poverty and ine*uality e:perienced across multiple sites to Tnd a point of similitude,
4hereas disarticulation under-mines efforts to /uild and sustain shared aims of resistance /eyond the micro-politics of the
local0 Accordingly, conceptuali%ing neoli/eralism re*uires an appreciation of the ela/orate and Uuctuating interchange
/et4een the local and e:tra local forces at 4or6 4ithin the glo/al political economy (renner S Theodore, &''&= 3erguson
S Fupta, &''&= Pec6, &''()0 "ng (&''I,p0 )) corro/orates this notion /y conceptuali%ing O/ig 8 8eoli/eralism5 as Oa T:ed
set of attri/utes 4ith predetermined outcomes5, 4hile Osmall n neoli/eralism5 operates in practice Oas a logic of governing
that mitigates and is selectively ta6en up in diverse political conte:ts50 #n this light, Pec6 and Tic6ell (&''&, p0 )G))
propose Oa processual conception of neoli/erali%ation as /oth an !out there$ and !in here$ phenomenon 4hose effects are
necessarily variegated and uneven, /ut the incidence and diffusion of 4hich may present clues to a pervasive
!metalogic$0Li6e glo/ali%ation, neoli/erali%ation should /e understood as a process, not an end-
state50 Thus, neoli%eralism-cum-neoli/erali%ation can %e vie"ed as a pl&ral set of ideas
emanatin' from %oth ever$"here and no"here 4ithin diffused loci of po4er (Pleh4e S
1alpen, &''B)0 The ina/ility to straightfor4ardly align neoli/eralism to particular individuals, organi%ations, or states,
and the further recognition that there is no Opure5 or Oparadigmatic5 version of neoli/eralism, /ut rather a series of
geopolitically distinct and institutionally effected hy/rids (Pec6, &''C),plays a signiTcant role in the
difTculty of reali%ing consensus on a conceptual deTnition of Oneo-li/eralism in general50
8eoli/eralism, it 4ould seem is simply too ne/ulous to isolate or deter-mine
Orientalism 0'nores @a&salit$
Orientalist representations dont ca&se violence dont ass&me a
cas&al relationship
Rotter D! Professor of <istory at Colgate University (Andre4 P0, !;aidism 1ithout ;aid9 "rientialism and U0;0
Diplomatic <istory$, The American <istorical >evie4, ('D(C), p0 (&'G-(&(')
A third and yet more tro&%lin' pro%lem for historians reading Orientalism is ;aid5s d&%io&s
epistemolo'ical relationship to matters of ca&se and effect* Discourse theory and
postmodernism generally have sha6en old certainties a/out history as a 6ind of science, a divining rod, 4hich, properly
4ielded, 4ill indicate the truth0 #n the postmodern universe, there is no truth, .ust self-serving !realities$ promoted /y
regimes of po4er0 !>eality is the creature of language,$ and !1estern 7an a modern-day Fulliver, tied do4n 4ith
ideological ropes and incapa/le of transcendence /ecause he can never get /eyond the veil of language to the reality Oout
there,5$ as three historians have summari%ed it0 3ollo4ing 8iet%sche and <eidegger, postmodernists li6e 7ichel 3oucault
deny the linearity of the historical process= thus !causation should /e pitched out0$ 3or /etter or 4orse, most historians
still /elieve that they are engaged in a search for reasons 4hy things happened as they did0 An event occ&rs,
li!e the American Revol&tion* 0t is not, they say, a construct or a representation %&t a
revol&tion, properly named0 There are reasons 4hy the revolution occurred0 and even though historians might
assign different 4eights to these reasons or argue over 4hether some of them mattered at all, they still /elieve that the
causes of the revolution are 6no4a/le, that they preceded the act of revolution itself, and that they are important to
understand0 "ne of the contri/utions of discourse theory has /een to complicateVa virtue, in its o4n termsVcomforta/le
assumptions a/out historical causation0 ut do the difficulties of ascri/ing cause ma6e the effort itself a fool5s errand2 ;aid
seems unsure0 At times, Pames Clifford has pointed out, ;aid !suggests that authenticity,5 Oe:perience,5 Oreality,5 Opresence,5
are mere rhetorical contrivances0$ +lse4here in "rientalism, he posits !an old-fashioned e:istential realism0$
/ometimes, Orientalism !distorts, dominates, or ignores some real or authentic feature of the
Orient4# sometimes, ;aid !denies the e:istence of any Oreal5 "rient0$ There is, he asserts, a relationship /et4een the
discourse of "rientalism and the e:ercise of po4er /y the 1est over the 7ideast0 The discourse, ;aid 4rote, !is /y no
means in direct, corresponding relationship 4ith political po4er in the ra4, /ut rather is produced and e:ists in uneven
e:change 4ith various 6inds of po4er,$ including political, intellectual, cultural, and moral0 7a6ing allo4ances for lifting
this *uotation out of a longer passage, it is nevertheless reasona/le to 4onder a/out the agency of that 4ord !produced0$
Does ;aid mean to say, as his grammar suggests, that the discourse is !produced 0 0 0 4ith various 6inds of po4er$ rather
than /y po4er, or that the discourse has an independent source2 #s discourse a dependent varia/le 4here po4er is
concerned, providing a reservoir of culturally shaped images from 4hich the po4erful can dra4 to .ustify decisions made
for reasons of perceived strategic or economic interest2I ;aid5s efforts to illuminate these connections arc not al4ays
successful0 >esponding to ernard Le4is5s attac6 on "rientalism, /aid insisted that !there is a remar6a/le
(/ut nonetheless intelli'i%le; coincidence %et"een the rise of modern Orientalist
scholarship and the ac2&isition of vast +astern empires %$ Britain and 3rance0$
3@oincidence4 is far from ca&se and effect0 #n Culture and #mperialism, "here the
relationship %et"een disco&rse and po"er is the heart of the matter, /aid
admitted# 30t is diffic&lt to connect these different realms, to sho4 the involvements of
culture 4ith e:panding empires, to ma6e o/servations a/out art that preserve its uni*ue endo4ments and at the same
time map its affiliations0$ /aids su/se*uent use of language indicates the difficulty0 <is definition of
imperialism incl&des not )&st the 3practice4 and !theory$ of domination %&t also
the 3attit&des of a dominating metropolitan center ruling a distant territory$Va statement that calls
to mind 7ar6 Lillas comment that 3postmodernism is lon' on attit&de and
short on ar'&ment0 $ ;aid struggles to decide 4hether culture and politics are separate spheres in some 4ays
connected or finally the same thing0 5ovels never 3ca&sed4 imperialism, /ut reading Conrad5s
<eart of Dar6ness !4as part of the +uropean effort to hold on to, thin6 a/out, plan for Africa$= and, 4hile no one 4ould
construe 7o/y Dic6 as !a mere literary decoration of events in the real 4orld0 0 the fact is that during the nineteenth
century the Onited /tates did e8pand territoriall$, most often at the e:pense of native peoples, and in
time came to gain hegemony over the 8orth American continent and the territories and seas ad.acent to it0$ 1hat is a
fact9 "hat it has to do "ith Eo%$ Dic! is less clear0G # am pic6ing here at the most
provocative and vulnera/le part of ;aid5s argument0 ;aid5s notion of po4er is more refined than the foregoing
deconte:tuali%ed summary admits0 <e defines "rientalism as !a style of thought,$ a 4ay of thin6ing a/out the +ast in such
a 4ay as to dominate it0 "rientalism gave the 1est !the po4er to say 4hat 4as significant a/out (the "therW, classify him
among others of his /reed, put him in his place,$ as 7ichael Dal/y has summari%ed it0 7or /aid, as for 3oucault,
!no"led'e is po"er* 1his e2&ation, ho4ever arresting0 ma$ not sa$ eno&'h to
historians of the state0 #t certainly does not say enough to historians of O*/* forei'n relations, on
4hich more shortly0
H not %ased in histor$
Be s!eptical of an$ evidence from /aid he 'ets man$ historical events
"ron'
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 &)-&C)
3or a 4or6 that purports to /e a serious 4or6 of intellectual history, Orientalism is
f&ll of historical ho"lers* Accordin' to /aid, at the end of the seventeenth
cent&r$, Britain and 7rance dominated the eastern Eediterranean, "hen in
fact the Levant "as still controlled for the ne8t h&ndred $ears /y the
"ttomans0 ritish and 3rench merchants needed the permission of the sultan to land0
<'$pt is repeatedl$ descri%ed as a British colon$ "hen, in fact, <'$pt "as
never more than a protectorate= it 4as never anne:ed as ;aid claims (p0)D)0 >eal
colonies, li6e Australia or Algeria, 4ere settled /y large num/ers of +uropeans, and this
manifestly 4as not the case 4ith +gypt0 1he most e're'io&s error s&rel$ is /aids
claim that E&slim armies con2&ered 1&r!e$ %efore the$ overran 5orth
Africa (p0 DI;* 0n realit$, the Ara%s invaded 5orth Africa in the seventh
cent&r$, and 4hat is no4 Tur6ey remained part of the +astern >oman +mpire M and
Christian M until it 4as con*uered /y the ;el.u6 Tur6s in the late eleventh century0 ;aid
4rites, !macdonald and 7asignon 4ere 4idely sought after as e:perts on #slamic matters
/y colonial adminstrators from 8orth Africa to Pa6istan$ (p0 &(')0 ut Pa6istan 4as
never a colony= it 4as created in (HCI 4hen the ritish left #ndia0 /aid tal!s oddl$
a%o&t the 3&nchallen'ed +estern dominance4 of the Gort&'&ese in the +ast
#ndies, China, and Papan until the nineteenth century (p0 I))0 B&t Gort&'al onl$
dominated the trade, especially in the si:teenth century, and "as never, as
historian P070 >o/erts points out, !interested in the s&%)&'ation or settlement of
lar'e areas0$ #n China, Portugal only had the tiny foothold of 7acao0 The first decades
of the seventeenth century 4itnessed the collapse of much of the Portuguese empire in
the +ast, to /e replaced /y the Dutch0 #n the early eighteenth century there 4as a Dutch
supremacy in the #ndian "cean and #ndonesia0 <o4ever, li6e the Portuguese, the Dutch
did not su/.ugate !the "rient,$ /ut 4or6ed through diplomacy 4ith native rulers and
through a net4or6 of trading stations0
A&thor 0ndict /aid cheats
<ven if historical errors dont discredit /aid, he ta!es statements %$
scholars o&t of conte8t to s&pport his ar'&ments :lol li!e de%ate;
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0&C-&D)
/&ch errors can %e p&t do"n to i'norance /aid is no historian %&t so
man$ 'ross errors p&t into do&%t /aids competence to "rite s&ch a %oo!0 "n
the other hand, "e can onl$ 2&alif$ as intellect&al dishonest$ the "a$ he
deli%eratel$ misinterprets a distin'&ished scholars "or! and concl&sions*
;aid *uotes 4ith approval and admiration some of the conclusions of >010 ;outhern5s
Western Views of Islam in the Middle Ages: 7ost conspicuous to us is the ina/ility of
any of these systems of thought E+uropean ChristianityW to provide a fully satisfying
e:planation of the phenomenon they had set out to e:plain E#slamW M still less to
influence the course of practical events in a decisive 4ay0 At a practical level, events
never turned out either so 4ell or so ill as the most intelligent o/servers predicated= and
it is perhaps 4orth noticing that they never turned out /etter than 4hen the /est .udges
confidently e:pected a happy ending0 1as there any progress Ein Christian 6no4ledge of
#slamW2 # must e:press my conviction that there 4as0 +ven if the solution of the pro/lem
remained o/stinately hidden from sight, the statement of the pro/lem /ecame more
comple:, more rational, and more related to e:perienceX0The scholars 4ho la/ored at
the pro/lem of #slam in the 7iddle Ages failed to find the solution they sought and
desired= /ut they developed ha/its of mind and po4ers of comprehension 4hich, in other
men and in other fields, may yet deserve success0 8o4 here is /aids e8traordinar$
misinterpretation of the 2&ote from /o&thern# !The /est part of ;outhern5s
analysisXis his demonstration that it is finally 1estern ignorance 4hich /ecomes more
refined and comple:, not some /ody of positive 1estern 6no4ledge 4hich increases in
si%e and accuracy$ (p0 B&)0 Accordin' to /aid, /o&rthern sa$s that positive
+estern !no"led'e of the Orient did not increase* 1his is not "hat /o&thern
is sa$in'* ;outhern as6s a *uestion and replies9 !1as there any progress Ein Christian
6no4ledge of #slamW2 # must e:press my conviction that there 4as0$ Yes, # am firmly
convinced that +estern !no"led'e did pro'ress9 that is "hat /o&thern states*
/o&thern adds that the medieval scholars methodolo'$ %ecame more and
more sophisticated9 the$ "ere more mat&re intellect&all$, since they developed
ha/its of mind and po4ers of comprehension that 4ould pay dividends later0 Ho" /aid
can spea!, "ith his &s&al pretentio&s voca%&lar$, of !1estern ignorance 4hich
/ecome more refined9 is a mystery, /ut it is in 6eeping 4ith his method and his 'oal of
paintin' the +est as ne'ativel$ as possi%le* #ncidentally, the same passa'e
from /o&thern contradicts one of /aids principal theses, a%o&t Oriental
st&dies %ein' a ca&se of imperialism* All this thin6ing a/out he "rient failed,
;outhern says, !to influence the course of practical events in a decisive 4ay0$
***Defense of +est***
<8pansionism )&stifiedN0nevita%le
<8pansion "as %ased on intellect&al in2&isitiveness, not 'reed or
economics
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0)G-)H)
1he 'olden thread r&nnin' thro&'h +estern civili-ation is rationalism0 As
Aristotle said, !7an /y nature strives to 6no40$ 1his striving for 6no4ledge res&lts in
science, "hich is /ut the application of reason* 0ntellect&al in2&isitiveness is
one of the hallmar!s of +estern civili-ation* As P070 >o/erts put it, The massive
indifference of some civilisations and their lac6 of curiosity a/out other 4orlds is a vast
su/.ect0 +h$, &ntil ver$ recentl$, did 0slamic scholars sho" no "ish to
translate Latin or "estern <&ropean te8ts into Ara%ic. 1hy, 4hen the +nglish
poet Dryden could confidently 4rite a play focused on the succession in Delhi after the
death of the 7ogul emperor Aurung%e/e, is it a safe '&ess that no 0ndian "riter
ever tho&'h of a pla$ a%o&t the e2&all$ dramatic politics of the <n'lish
seventeenth-cent&r$ co&rt. 0t is clear that an e8planation of <&ropean
in2&isitiveness and advent&ro&sness m&st lie deeper than economics,
important though they may have /een0 0t "as not )&st 'reed "hich made
<&ropeans feel the$ co&ld 'o o&t and ta!e the "orld* 1he love of 'ain is
confined to no partic&lar people or c&lt&re* 0t "as shared in the fifteenth
cent&r$ %$ man$ an Ara/, Fu.arati or Chinese merchant* /ome <&ropeans "anted
more0 They 4anted to e:plore0 7ar:ists, 3reudians, and anti-imperialists, 4ho crudely
reduce all human activities to money, se:, and po4er, respectively, have difficulties in
understanding the very notion of disinterested intellectual in*uiry0 <&ropean man, %$
nat&re, strives to !no"0 ;cience undou/tedly o4ned some of tis impetus to finding
4ays of changing /ase metal into gold and to attempts to solve practical pro/lems, /ut
surely science o"es as m&ch to the desire to !no", to 'et at the tr&th* 1his is
the reason philosophers li!e Harl Gopper have called it a spirit&al
achievement* <ence, the desperate attempts %$ /aid to smear ever$ sin'le
Orientalist "ith the lo"est of motives are not onl$ reprehensi%le %&t also
fail to 'ive d&e "ei'ht to this 'olden thread r&nnin' thro&'h +estern
civili-ation* "ne should also have reminded ;aid that it "as this desire for
!no"led'e on the part of <&ropeans that led the people of the 5ear <ast to
recover and discover their o"n past and their o"n identit$0 #n the nineteenth
and early t4entieth centuries, archaeolo'ical e8cavations in Eesopotamia,
ancient /$ria, ancient Galestine, and 0ran "ere carried o&t entirel$ %$
<&ropeans and, later, Americans* The disciplines of +gyptology, Assyriology, and
#ranology, all of 4hich restored to man6ind a large part of its heritage, 4ere the e:clusive
creations of in*uisitive +uropeans and Americans M 4hereas, for doctrinal reasons,
#slam deli/erately refused to loo6 at its pre-#slamic past, 4hich 4as considered a period
of ignorance0
Orientalism do&%le t&rns itself
Orientalist @riticism oversimplifies the +est in the same "a$ of $o&r
criticism $o& cant red&ce it to imperliasm and dominance
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 &G-)')
0n order to achieve his 'oal of paintin' the +est in 'eneral, and the
discipline of? Orientalism in particular, in as ne'ative a "a$ as possi%le, /aid has
recourse toA several tactics0 "ne of his preferred moves is to depict the Orient as a perpet&al? victim
of +estern imperialism, dominance, and a''ression* 1he Orient is never?
seen as an actor, an a'ent "ith free "ill or desi'ns or ideas of its o"n* 0t is to
this? propensit$ that "e o"e that immat&re and &nattractive 2&alit$ of so
m&ch con temporar$ Eiddle <astern c&lt&re, self-pit$, and the %elief that all
its ills are the? res&lt of ima'inar$ +estern-Pionist @onspiracies0@ <ere is an
e:ample of ;aid?sA o4n /elief in such conspiracies ta6en from The Kuestion of Palestine9 @#t 4as perfectly apparent to
1estern supporters of Lionism li6e alfour that the coloni%ation of Palestine 4as made a goal for the 1estern po4ers
from the very /eginningA of Lionist planning9 <er%l used the idea, 1ei%mann used it, every leading #sraeliA since has used
it0 #srael 4as a device for holding #slam-later the ;oviet Union,A or communism-at /ay0@? ;o #srael 4as created to hold
#slam at /ayJA As for the politics of victimhood, ;aid has @mil6ed it himself to an indecentA degree2@ /aid "rote#
E$ o"n e8periences of these matters are in part "hat made me "rite this
%oo!*? 1he life of an Ara% Galestinian in the +est, partic&larl$ in America, is
disheartenin'* There e:ists here an almost unanimous consensus that politically he doesA not e:ist, and 4hen it is
allo4ed that he does, it is either as a nuisance or as anA "riental0 The 4e/ of racism, cultural stereotypes, political
imperialism, dehumani%ing ideology holding in the Ara/ or the 7uslim is very strong indeed, andA it is this 4e/ 4hich
every Palestinian has come to feel as his uni*uely punishingA destiny0 (p0 &I) /&ch "allo"in' in self-pit$
from a tenured and much-feted professor atA Colum/ia University, "here he en)o$ed privile'es
that "e lesser mortals onl$? dream of (and a decent salary), all the "hile spe"in'
forth hatred of the co&ntr$? that too! him in and heaped honors on him, is
na&seatin', As lan uruma concluded in his revie4 of ;aid?s memoir, "ut of Place, @1he more he d"ells
on his? s&fferin' and his e8ile stat&s, the more his admirers admire him0 "n
me, ho4ever, it has the opposite effect0 "f all the attitudes that shape a memoir, self-pityA is the least attractive0@ 1he
p&tative con2&est of <'$pt %$ 5apoleon pla$s an important s$m%olic? role in
/aids scheme of sho"in' all that is evil in Orientalism* 7or /aid,? 5apoleon
con2&ered, dominated, en'&lfed, possessed, and oppressed <'$pt (seeA especially
pp0 G)-GG in "rientalism)0 <'$pt is descri%ed as the passive victim of? +estern
rapacit$* 0n realit$, the 7rench "ere defeated and had to retreat hastil$A after
fe4er than four years9 8apoleon arrived in Puly (IHG and left for good .ustA over a year later, and the 3rench forces stayed
until ;eptem/er lG'l0 ut duringA this /rief interlude, the 3rench fleet 4as destroyed at the attle of the 8ile, andA the
3rench failed to capture 7urad ey0 >iots /ro6e out 4hen a house ta: 4asA introduced in Cairo, and the 3rench general
Domini*ue-7artin Dupuy, lieu tenant governor of Cairo, 4as 6illed0 3urther riots /ro6e out among the 7uslimsA in Cairo
4hen the 3rench left to confront the Tur6s at 7ataria, /ut the chief victims 4ere Christians, many of 4hom 4ere
slaughtered /y the 7uslims0 TheA 3rench general Pean-aptiste -lZ/er 4as assassinated0 7ar from seein' the
<'$ptians as (the Other( and far from deni'ratin' 0slam, from (IHG the 7rench
"ere? hi'hl$ sensitive to E&slim opinion, "ith 5apoleon sho"in' an
intimate !no"led'e of the Horan0 Perhaps the ultimate irony 4as that after the assassination ofA
-lZ/er, the command of the 3rench army passed to Fen0 P0 30 aron de 7enon,A 4ho had converted to #slam and had set
a/out enacting measures to conciliate theA 7uslims0 5a'&i% Eahfo&-, the 5o%el Gri-e-"innin'
<'$ptian novelist, once said it is than!s to 5apoleons campai'n in <'$pt
that his co&ntr$ has emer'ed o&t of cent&ries of o%sc&rantism* <'$pt o"es
all its modernit$ to 5apoleonJ@ Another res&lt of the enco&nter "ith the +est
"as the discover$ of its ancient, pre-0slamic past, than6s to the 4or6 and genius of scholars
such as 7ariette and Chrunpollion0 /o m&ch for the evils of the (con2&est of <'$pt*( Had
he %othered to p&rs&e the s&%se2&ent histor$ of <'$pt, /aid "o&ld have? p&t
+estem imperialism in perspective, since he "o&ld have come across the
histor$ of E&hammad Ali, often considered the founder of modern +gypt0 0t "as? never in the
interest or even the intention of the +estern po"ers to see the dismem%erment
of the Ottoman <mpire, 4hich time and time again sought and received +uropean support for the
preservation of its imperial possessions0 AfterA the humiliating retreat of the 3rench, the "ttoman?s greatest challenger
4as aA 7uslim, the a/le /ut am/itious governor of +gypt, 7uhammad Ali, @4ho aspiredA to nothing less than the
su/stitution of his o4n empire for that of the "ttomans0$A #nspired /y 8apoleon, 7uhammad Ali moderni%ed many of
+gypt?s archaic institutions0 #n his imperial dreams, Ali 4as th4arted /y the "ttomans, 4ho had theA help, once again, of
the great po4ers-ritain, >ussia, Austria, and Prussia-thatA did not 4ish to use the sultan?s plight to e:pand their imperial
possessions0 A little later, 7uhammad Ali5s grandson #smail also dreamed of transforming +gypt intoA a modern imperial
po4er0 y the mid-(GI's, @a vast +gyptian empire had comeA into /eing, e:tending from the 7editerranean in the north to
La6e Rictoria, andA from the #ndian "cean in the east to the Li/yan desert0@
Orientalist @riti2&e stereot$pes ever$ <&ropean as inherentl$ racist
he recreates the divide %et"een the Orient and <&rope
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 )(-)))
Here is /aids characteri-ation of all <&ropeans# @#t is therefore correct thatA ever$
<&ropean, in "hat he co&ld sa$ a%o&t the Orient, "as conse2&entl$ a racist,A
an imperialist, and almost totall$ ethnocentric( (p0 &'C)0 ,0n other "ords, not
onl$A are all <&ropeans racist, %&t the$ m&st necessaril$ %e so* ;aid claims he is
e:plicitly antiessentialist, particularly a/out @the 1est0@ ut here is ;aid again9 @Consider first the demarcation /et4een
"rient and 1est0 #t already seems /old /y theA time of the #liad0 T4o of the most profoundly influential *ualities
associated 4ithA the +ast appear in Aeschylus?s The Persians, the earliest Athenian play e:tant, andA in The acchae of
+uripides, the very last one e:tant 0000 The t4o aspects of theA "rient that set it off from the 1est in this pair of plays 4ill
remain essential motifsA of +uropean imaginative geography0 A line is dra"n %et"een t"o
continents*A <&rope is po"erf&l and artic&late9 Asia is defeated and distant(
(pp0 DB[DI)0A As -eith 1indschuttle comments on that passage9 1hese same motifs persist in
+estern c&lt&re, J/aidB claims, ri'ht clo"n to theA modern period* 1his is a
tradition that accommodates perspectives as diver'entA as those of Aeschylus,
Dante, Rictor <ugo, and Harl Ear8* <o4ever, inA descri%in' (the essential motifs( of the
<&ropean 'eo'raphic ima'ination thatA have persisted since ancient Freece, he is ascri%in'
to the +est at coherent self-A identit$ that has prod&ced a specific set of
val&e )&d'ments-@+urope is po4erful and articulate9 Asia is defeated and distant@-that have
remained constantA for the past D,QCC $ears* 1his is, of co&rse, nothin' less
than the &se of the ver$A notion of (essentialism4 that he else"here
condemns so vi'oro&sl$* 0n short, itA is his o"n "or! that is essentialist and
ahistorical* He himself commits the ver$A fa&lts he sa$s are so o%)ectiona%le
in the "or! of Orientalists0@And here is another e:ample to prove ;aid5s anti-1estern essentialism @TheA
"rient 4as "rientali%ed not only /ecause it 4as discovered to /e O"riental5 in all those 4ays considered commonplace /y
an average nineteenth-century +uropean,A /ut also /ecause it could /e-that is, su/mitted to /eing-made "riental@ (p0 B)0A
<ere 4e have ;aid?s reductionistic a/surdity9 the @average nineteenth-centuryA +uropean0@ A part of /aid,s
tactic is to leave o&t +estern "riters and scholars "ho doA not conform to
his theoretical frame"or!* /ince, for /aid, all <&ropeans are aA priori racist,
he o%vio&sl$ cannot allo" himself to 2&ote "riters "ho are not*A #ndeed, one could
4rite a parallel 1or6 to "rientalism made up of e:tracts fromA 1estern 4riters, scholars, and travelers 4ho 4ere attracted
/y various aspects ofA non-+uropean cultures, 4hich they praised and contrasted favora/ly 4ith theirA o4n decadence,
/igotry, intolerance, and /ellicosity0
Orientalism Lies
1he @riticism is i'norant of the "or!s of real Orientalists and
fa%ricates lies to ref&te those "ho disa'ree "ith him
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 D'-D()
<ven scholars praised %$ /aid in Orientalism do not partic&larl$ li!e his?
anal$sis, ar'&ments, or concl&sions0 7a:ime >odinson .udged that @as &s&al,?
J/aidsB militant stand leads him repeatedl$ to ma!e e8cessive statements,(
d&e,? no do&%t, to the fact that /aid "as (inade2&atel$ versed in the
practical "or! of? the Orientalists0@ >odinson also calls ;aid?s polemic and style
@;talinist,@ 4hile P0 P0 Rati6iotis 4rote, @;aid introduced 7cCarthyism into 7iddle
+asternA ;tudies0@ Pac*ues er*ue, also praised /y ;aid, 4rote that the latter had @doneA
*uite a disservice to his countrymen in allo4ing them to /elieve in a 1estemA intelligence
coalition against them0@ A 3or the +nglish historian of #ndia Clive De4ey, /aid,s %oo!
("as, technicall$, so %ad9 in ever$ respect, in its &se of so&rces, in its
ded&ctions, it lac!ed? ri'o&r and %alance* 1he o&tcome "as a caricat&re of
+estern !no"led'e of the Orient, driven %$ an overtl$ political a'enda0 Yet it
clearly touched a deep vein A of vulgar pre.udice running through American academe0@
The most famous modern scholar 4ho not only replied to /ut 4ho also mopped the floor
4ith ;aid 4as, of course, Bernard Le"is0 Le4is points to man$ ? serio&s errors of
histor$, interpretation, anal$sis, and omission* He has never? %een ans4ered,
let alone ref&ted* ? Le4is points out that even among ritish and 3rench scholars on
4hom0A ;aid concentrates, he does not mention at all Claude Cahen, +variste Levi-A
Provengal, <enri Cor/in, 7arius Canard0 Charles Pellat, 1illiam and FeorgeA 7arcais, or
1illiam 1right= only mentioned in passing, usually in a long list of,A names, are scholars
li6e >0 A0 8icholson, Fuy Le ;trange0 ;ir Thomas Arnold, A and +0 F0 ro4ne9 @<ven for
those "hom he does cite, /aid ma!es a,? remar!a%l$ ar%itrar$ choice of
"ords* His common practice indeed is to omit? their ma)or contri%&tions to
scholarship and instead fasten on minor or occasional "ritin's*( /aid even
fa%ricates lies a%o&t eminent scholars# (Thus in spea6ing of the late-eighteenth
early-nineteenth-century 3rench "rientalist ;ilvestre de ;acy, 7r0 ;aid remar6s that @he
ransac!ed the Oriental archives 0000 1hat te:ts he isolated, he then /rought /ac6=
he doctored them 0000 Ep0 (&IW lf A these 4ords /ear any meaning at all it is that ;acy 4as
someho4 at fault in hisA access to these documents and then committed the crime of
tampering 4ithA them0 This outrageous li/el on a great scholar is 4ithout a shred of truth0
A Another false acc&sation that /aid- flin's o&t is that Orientalists never
properl$ disc&ssed the Orient,s economic activities until >odinson?s #slam and
Capitalism ((HBB)0 1his sho"s /aid,s total i'norance of the "or!s of Adam 7e%,
P0<0 -ramers, 10 .or6man, R0 arthold, and Thomas Arnold, all of "hom dealt?
"ith, the economic activities of E&slims0 As >odinson himself points out else-A
4here, one of the three scholars 4ho 4as a pioneer in this very field 4as ernardA
Le4is0@A /aid "rites of 0slamic Orientalism %ein' c&t off from developments
in other? flields in the h&manities, partic&larl$ the economic and the social
(p0 &Bl;* B&t? this again onl$ reveals /aid,s i'norance of the "or!s of real
Orientalists rather? than those of his ima'ination0 As >odinson 4rites, the
sociology of #slam?is anA ancient su/.ect, citing the 4or6 of >0 LZvy0 >odinson then points
out that +mileA Dur6heim?s cele/rated .ournal L?AnnZe sociologi*ue listed for every year,A
starting from the first decades of the t4entieth century, a certain num/er of 4or6sA on
#slamJ@
Orientalism is Bad H&rts the +est
Orientalism disre'ards the +est "itho&t "arrant
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 D(-D&)
Page D(-D&
#t must have /een particularly galling for ;aid to see the hostile revie4s of hisA -"rientalism 4ritten /y Ara/, #ranian, and
Asian intellectuals, some of 4hom heA admired and singled out for praise in many of his 4or6s0 3or e:ample, 8i66iA
-eddie, praised in Covering #slam, tal6ed of the disastrous influence of "rientalism, even though she admired parts of it9 #
thin6 that there has %een a tendenc$ in the Eiddle <ast field to adopt the "ord
(orientalism( as a 'enerali-ed s"ear-"ord essentiall$ referrin' to people
"hoA ta!e the ("ron'( position on the Ara%-0sraeli disp&te or to people "ho
areA )&d'ed too (conservative*4 0t has nothin' to do "ith "hether the$ are
'ood orA not 'ood in their disciplines* ;' @orientalism( for man$ people is a
"ord that s&%stit&tes for tho&'ht and ena%les people to dismiss certain
scholars and theirA "or!s0 # thin6 that is too /ad0 #t may not have /een 4hat +d4ard ;aid meant atA all, /ut
the term has /ecome a 6ind of slogan0@A -eddie noted that the /oo6 @co&ld also %e &sed in a
dan'ero&s "a$ %eca&se itA can enco&ra'e people to sa$, (Ro& +esterners,
$o& can,t do o&r histor$ ri'ht, $o&A can,t st&d$ it ri'ht, $o& reall$ sho&ldn,t
%e st&d$in' it, "e are the onl$ ones "hoA can st&d$ o&r o"n histor$
properl$,4 Al/ert <ourani, much admired /y ;aid, made a similar point9 @l thin6 all thisA tal6 after +d4ard?s /oo6
also has a certain danger0 1here is a certain co&nter-A attac! of E&slims, "ho sa$
no%od$ &nderstands 0slam e8cept themselves*( <ourani 4ent further in his criticism of ;aid?s
"rientalism9 @Orientalism hasA no" %ecome a dirt$ "ord* 8evertheless it should /e used for a
perfectlyA respected discipline 0000 # thin6 J/aidB carries it too far "hen he sa$s that the A
orientalists delivered the Orient %o&nd to the imperial po"ers ****S <d"ard
totall$A i'nores the Kerman tradition and philosoph$ of histor$ "hich "as
the central tradition of the OrientalistsX# thin6 +d4ard5s other /oo6s are admira/le0$ ;imilarly,A
Ai.a% Ahmed thought "rientalism 4as a @deeply fla4ed /oo6,@ and 4ouldA /e forgotten 4hen the dust settled, 4hereas he
thought ;aid?s /oo6s on PalestineA 4ould /e remem/ered0@ -anan 7a6iya, the eminent #ra*i scholar, chronicled ;aid?s
disastrous influence, particularly in the Ara/ 4orld9 "rientalism as an intellectual pro.ect influenced at 4hole generation
of youngA Ara/ scholars, and it shaped the discipline of modern 7iddle +ast studies in theA (HG's0 1he ori'inal
%oo! 4as never intended as a criti*ue of contemporary Ara/A politics, yet it fed into a deepl$ rooted
pop&list politics of resentment a'ainst theA +est* 1he distortions it anal$-ed
came from the ei'hteenth and nineteenth cent&ries, %&t these "ere
marshalled %$ $o&n' Ara% and (pro-Ara%( scholars into anA intellect&al-
political a'enda that "as o&t of !ilter "ith the real needs of Ara%sA "ho "ere
livin' in a "orld characteri-ed %$ rapidl$ escalatin' cr&elt$, not ever-A
increasin' imperial domination* The tra.ectory from ;aid?s "rientalism to hisA Covering #slam 0 0 0 is
premised on the morally 4rong idea0 that the 1est is to /eA /lamed in the here-and-no4 for its long nefarious history of
association 4ith theA +ast at the same time as it contri/uted more /itterness to the armory ol? youngA impressiona/le
Ara/s 4hen there 4as already far too much of that around0@@
0mpact 1&rn +est solves sta%ilit$Ndemocrac$
+estern civili-ation is mischaracteri-ed it act&all$ '&arantees
peace and democrac$
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 DI-DG)
A visit to the "ntario ;cience Center in Toronto on 8e4 Year?s Day &''B
4as for me a so/ering e:perience0 1&c!ed a"a$ in the section titled (1r&th( "ere
man$ &ntr&thf&l though undou/tedly politically correct statements deni'ratin'
+estem civili-ation* #n an effort to /e fair, one e:hi/it gave 4ay to un/ridled
relativism9 @7odern 1estern science puts the ;un at the centre of the solar system0
ut other points of vie4 are not necessarily 4rong or primitive0@ And yet the same
section, 4ithout a hint of irony, 4as proclaimin' ho" (<&rocentric( or
(intolerant( the +est "asJ This science museum, 4hich 4as implicitly a verita/le
hymnA to the achievements of 1estern thought and ideas, 4ent out of its 4ay to
selectively critici%e some 1estern thin6ers for @racism,@ or, as 30 >0 Leavis and D0 <0A
La4rence might /oth have said, @to do dirt on 1estern life0@ B&t the m&se&m
e8emplified the definin' val&es of the Occident, or 4hat areA the tutelary guiding
lights of, or the three 'olden threads r&nnin' thro&'h* +estern? civili-ation-
namel$, rationalism, &niversalism, and self-criticism0 "ne couldA fperhaps argue
that universalism and self-criticism 4ere the logical outcomes ofA rationalism, /ut ( thin6
it more useful to vie4 them as separate /ut interconnectedA sets of /eliefs and principles0
;econd, 1estern civili%ation can, and has /een,A characteri%ed in several other 4ays? #
thin6 many of the suggested distinguishingA characteristics of the 1est, such as the
separation of spirit&al and temporal? a&thorit$, can %e said to derive from
one or more of the three 'olden threads0A Thus, in the latter case of the separation
of church and state, as 8larsilius of PaduaA argued, @0t is the state and not the church
that '&arantees the civil peace, and? reason, not revelation, to "hich appeal
m&st %e made in all matters of temporal? )&risdiction*( Golitics involves
"illin' and free participation, disc&ssion# in short, rationalism, dissent, the
ri'ht to chan'e one,s mind* and the ri'ht to oppose and? disa'ree-that is,
self-criticism-"itho&t reco&rse or appeal to divine commands? or hol$
script&res0 ;imilarly, another definin' feat&re, the r&le of la", the thoughtA that
la4 is central to civili-ed e8istence and its contin&ation "as derived lar'el$?
from the Romans* 5ot onl$ is la"ma!in' a s&premel$ h&man and rational?
activit$, %&t Roman la" "as also conceived as possessin' a &niversal
)&risdiction*
H is red&ctionist
5ot all orientalists "anted to coloni-e the Orient man$ opposed
+estern interference
+arra2 > (#/n 1arra*, founder of the #nstitute for the ;ecularisation of #slamic
;ociety, senior research fello4 at the Center for #n*uiry focusing on Kurahic criticism,
Defending the 1est9 A Criti*ue of +de4ard ;aid5s "rientalism, p0 C'I-C'G)
0t sho&ld %e evident that one cannot red&ce the colorf&l and 'ifted
individ&als !no"n as Orientalists and their "or!s to as $et another
e8pression of colonialism and imperialism0 Ean$ of these artists "or!ed in
1&r!e$ and the Ottoman <mpire, "hich "ere not parts of an$ +estern
colonial empire* Others? "or!ed in <'$pt and Eorocco, neither of "hich
"ere strictl$ spea!in' colonies? mid-nineteenth cent&r$9 the latter of 4hich
only /ecame a 3rench protectorate in (H(&, and the former came under dual 3rench and
ritish control inA Algeria did come under 3rench rule in lG)', /ut Orientalists such asA
+ugene 3romentin s$mpathi-ed "ith the Al'erian people, and others li6e
CharlesA Cordier act&all$ settled there, Ean$ Orientalists "ere opposed to
+estern interference in the Orient, %oth for political reasons-they 4ere
democratic in theirA sympathies-and for aesthetic ones-they did not 4ant to see too
rapid a changeA in the lands they had come to love0 1he$ had come to the Orient to
escape ind&striali-ation* 1he Orientalists had their o"n individ&al reasons
for e8plorin' artisticall$ forei'n climes, c&stoms, people, and cost&mes0
7any passed through either Asia 7inor, Freece and Al/ania, or ;pain0 #n all cases our
"rientalist painters 4ere enthralled /y the descriptive, genre possi/ilities of the peoples
andA their colorful traditions0 1he$ did not see the /panish in an$ different
manner? from ho" the$ sa" the Al'erians or Eoroccans9 there "as no
racism on their part* On the contrar$, the$ painted Ara%s, /panish '$psies,
Al'erians, Al%anians, Ber%ers, Kree!s, and Armenians in the same fashion,
accordin' all their s&%)ects? di'nit$, h&manit$, and individ&alit$* #n this, they
4ere influenced /y, and follo4ed the tradition of, the great Dutch masters, 4hom they
e:plicitly ac6no4ledged as their teachers0 The nineteenth-century "rientalists, .ust as
such artistic ancestors as FentileA ellini, Carpaccio, and Pisanello, 4ere struc6 /y-
over4helmed /y-this ne4A 4orld of /right s6ies and vivid colors0 Delacroi:?s painting 4as
modified immediately 4ith @his Contact 4ith the "rient, and the intensification of color
soA afforded is passed on to the 4hole line of successors0@ #ndeed, the Orientalists
m&st %e seen not only against the /ac6ground ofA Renetian colorists and the Dutch
masters /ut also a'ainst the entire %ac!'ro&nd? of +estern civili-ation, "ith
its intellect&al and artistic c&riosit$ and the ver$? often essentiall$
s$mpathetic attit&des to the Other that l have descri%ed thro&'ho&t this
%oo!, from the ancient Kree!s* /y 4ay of li/eral-minded +uropean and American
travelers, all the "a$ to the Orientalist scholars "ritin' a%o&tA #ndia, Persia, and
the 5ear <ast in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries0