On Orientalism

HENRY HOPWOOD-PHILLIPS revisits Edward Saids famous post-coloial polemic ad

fids it seriousl! wati"
In 1963 Dr Abdel-Malik caused shock waves in the ield o Oriental !tudies when he claimed that it was
Europocentric, paying insufficient attention to the scholars, scholarship, methods, and
achievements of the Afro-Asian world; [Orientalists] are osessed with the past and do not show
sufficient interest in the recent history of the Oriental peoples
"iteen #ears later $dward !aid develo%ed the idea that an acce%ted &rid' a historical stream o
consciousness ull o %reconce%tions and assum%tions iltered e(%erience o the Orient into )estern
consciousness*
+e maintained that ,iet-sche.s idea o the will to %ower a%%lied to )estern en/uir# and that a
narrative and %ra(is had evolved that aected the structures o knowled&e* I 0uvier was correct in
assertin& that %hiloso%h# is instructin& the world in theor#' then !aid was ri&ht in maintainin& that
the Orient was less a %lace than a to%os1 a to%os that was essentialist' racialist' %atronisin&' and
ideolo&icall# motivated*
+owever' !aid.s im%ressive thesis' so com%ellin& and valid at man# levels' seems to be a net s%read too
thin and wide to constitute a meanin&ul criti/ue* M* +* 2err commented
!n charging the entire tradition of Oriental "tudies with the sins of reductionism and caricature,
["aid] commits precisely the same error
a act that has ins%ired a whole new literature about Orientalism.s %artner in crime3 Occidentalism' a
sub4ect that in turn is
at least as reductive; its igotry simply turns the Orientalist view upside down# $o diminish an entire
society or a civilisation to a mass of soulless, decadent, money-gruing, rootless, faithless, unfeeling
parasites
5he thesis' in its attem%t to &rat a static )estern historio&ra%h# on to the d#namic realit#' also
encoura&es the $ast to set itsel u% as static too* !o' instead o static and backwards' radical Islam
%reers to %resent a reverse o the coin* Islam is static in a &ood wa#' it ar&ues3 it has a sin&le' %erect'
unchan&in& essence that is morall# and s%irituall# su%erior*
5hese are little more than academic /uibbles' however* More si&niicantl#' !aid.s ar&ument 4ust does
not it the histor# and &eo&ra%h# that it claims to unlock* A more honest descri%tion o his thesis mi&ht
be "rance' $n&land and Arabia 6 An Identit# 7uestion in the A&e o Im%erialism* "or &eo&ra%hicall#'
!aid e(cludes all o ,orth Arica west o $&#%t' most o 8ersia' 5urke# and A&hanistan 6 a lar&e %art
o the Orient* $uro%e ares little better 6 9erman#' !%ain and Ital# are i&nored or all intents and
%ur%oses sim%l# because their historical behaviour does not it*
+istoricall#-s%eakin&' describin& ever#one as an Orientalist between +erodotus :;<;-;=> ?0@ and
8ostel :AD 1>1A-<1@ is at best anachronistic and at worst to all into the tra% o %resentism* 5he
?#-antine $m%ire and its constituent ?alkan territories are not accounted or in this sim%listic binar#
ormulation* And institutionall#' there was little or no homo&eneit# to Oriental !tudies' instead
[it] is mostly a story of individual scholars, often lonely and eccentric men
!aid alle&es that the ver# ontolo&ical basis o the $ast and )est d#ad is arbitrar#* +e states that
$he Orient is [then] corrected, even penali%ed, for lying outside& [and] is thus orientali%ed
5he realit# is less dramatic* 5he term Orient meant the direction rom which the sun rose or most o
the inhabitants o the )estern Mediterranean* D* M* Barisco makes it clear that
$he distinction etween East and 'est is in its origins relational, not essential
5he Orient.s irst )estern visitor whose works are still e(tant was +erodotus' a man rom a %eo%le
who had no name or themselves :onl# one or those the# could not understand@ and who adored the
8hoenician al%habet' C#dian coina&e and $&#%tian scul%ture*
+e admired the Orientals but des%ised the 5hracians and !c#thians that la# on the ,orthern marches'
earnin& the sobri/uet barbaro%hile* Accordin& to !aid' +erodotus con/uered the Orient b# visitin& it
and writin& about it 6 in stark contrast to the 8ersians who es%oused a model o international relations
that resembled 0hina.s !inocentric s#stem* "orei&ners were dismissed as anarya' non-Ar#an' and the
s%ectacle o them con/uered and in chains was immortalised in stone at 8erse%olis*
5he Islamic invasions o the seventh centur# that broke u% the Doman (are )ostra *EmoveFdG the
centre o $uro%ean culture awa# rom the MediterraneanE towards the ,orth' as +enri 8irenne had
earlier observed* 5he 0hristians were attacked b# the victorious new aith or believin& that 9od could
assume a tem%oral orm1 that 9od could die on a cross1 or believin& in three &ods* 5he 0hristians on
their %art mocked the sensualit# o %ol#&am#' Islam.s violence and Mohammed.s ailure to %erorm
miracles*
"rom the rei&n o Abd al-Malik :r*6<>-HA>@ when the o%%ression o 0hristians in the $ast commenced'
to $rasmus in the earl# si(teenth centur#' the )est to#ed with ideas about itsel and Islam but no
stable themes emer&ed* Instead countless balls were 4u&&led* 8eter the Benerable.s %rolo&ue to "ect of
the "aracens told the inidel
! approach you not with arms ut with words; not with force ut with reason; not in hatred ut in
love
A/uinas cited Averroes ive hundred and three times in his "umma contra +entiles* 5he crusades
brou&ht both reli&ions into closer contact and resulted in books like )illiam o 5ri%oli.s $ractatus de
"tatu "aracenorum :1=H3@ which su&&ested Muslims weren.t reall# much urther awa# rom salvation
than the avera&e 0hristian' and Dicoldo de Monte 0roce.s idea that virtuous !aracens could be used as
e(am%les to whi% intransi&ent 0hristians into line* 5he most amous e%ic o 0hristendom'
the ,hanson de -oland' commemorates deeat' not victor#1 makes 0harlema&ne out to be semi-
blas%hemous :the war is Ihis. cause not 9od.s@1 and includes the line )ere he F!aracen 2in&
MarsilionG but 0hristian' ri&ht kni&htl# he.d a%%ear thus utterl# trivialisin& his otherness to the
%oint o bein& %erceived as a %otential %ara&on o the )est had he not held the reli&ious views he had*
!aid attacks Dante or bein& a %roto-Orientalist i*e* bein& com%licit' conscious or otherwise' in
constructin& the %re4udicial %rism throu&h which all )estern scholarshi% has since been skewed* Jet
Dante in s%ite o his re%utation as a canonical $uro%ean did not much care either wa# about Islam*
+e thou&ht :erroneousl#@ that Mohammed had been a 0hristian who had &one astra# and certainl# did
not see him as some &hastl# Iother.* A&ain' he viewed !aladin' Avicenna and Averroes as virtuous
%a&ans rather than irreconcilable enemies* Mi&uel AsKn 8alacios even claimed Dante to be s#m%athetic
:and knowled&eable@ enou&h about Islam to have modelled his celestial 4ourne#s on Isra and Mira4 :the
Islamic ni&ht 4ourne# te(ts@ and Ibn Arabi.s %lan o %aradise*
As or the roots o essentialism and otherness' it was Islamic 4urists in the earl# ei&hth centur# who
ormulated the &reat &eo%olitical divides o .ar al /ar :realm o war@ and.ar al !slam :realm o
Islam@* It was Islamic &overnors that enorced &radations o otherness rom ahl al 0ita :%eo%le o
the book@ to the even less ortunate &odless !abaeans' within a ramework o dhimmi-tude* I a sense
o otherness did not maniest itsel on an occidental scale :other than words such as Ifrangi. 6 "ranks@
it was because Muslims were like most other %eo%les in histor#3
!t was the (uslims who were eing normal, the Europeans who were not eing normal# )ot eing
interested in other cultures or even despising them is the normal state of man0ind#
Meanwhile in the )est knowled&e o Islam was in decline* D* )* !outhern notes that 0hristendom in
the ourteenth centur# knew less about Islam than it had in the twelth*
!aid makes a %oint o announcin& Orientalism.s Iormal e(istence. with the decision o the 0hurch
0ouncil o Bienne :131=@1 however' its decree was a dead letter* 5he teachin& o Arabic was su%%osed to
be unded b# e(tra ecclesiastical undin& but it never ha%%ened*
Durin& the Denaissance' $uro%ean interest in the Orient la&&ed* 5his was mainl# due to :a@ the act
man# scholars were comin& to realise that Arab-Catin translations o 9reek works were o a ver# %oor
/ualit#1 :b@ the disaster o the "ourth 0rusade :1=A;@' and :c@ the act %il&rim accounts were becomin&
anod#ne and ormulaic* Interest did not %eak a&ain until Islam resumed the oensive* In 1;>3
0onstantino%le ell' then ?el&rade :1>=1@' and Dhodes :1>==@* 5he +un&arians lost at Mohacs :1>=6@'
Bienna was besie&ed :1>=9@' 0#%rus ell in 1>H1' 0rete in 1669' and Bienna was besie&ed a&ain in 16<3*
5he si(teenth centur# was the &reat a&e o Islamic $m%ire3 Mu&hal' !aavid' Mamluk and Ottoman
d#nasties carved out their realms and $uro%e shuddered*
I the )est as a sel-conscious identit# :and thereore the Orient a corollar# Iother.@ has a ather-i&ure'
then 5homas More :and his continental e/uivalents@ with his %leas or %eace between 0hristian %rinces
and solidarit# a&ainst the 5urk :at a time when the %rintin& %resses were turnin& out co%ies o !ir
5homas Malor#.s ode to chivalr#' (orte dArthur@ did more than an#bod# else to make $uro%eans
realise their distinctiveness and their &eo%olitical conte(t* +owever' the Deormation or the most %art
restricted the )est.s attention to itsel*
?ut si&niicantl# &eo%olitical concerns trum%ed this nascent identit#* !aid ails to reer to "rancis I.s
alliance with the !ublime 8orte or to $li-abeth I.s re/uest or an alliance with Murad III or to 9erman
overtures to the Ottomans in the earl# twentieth centur#* 5hese were attem%ts to de%lo# the 5urks as i
the# were 4ust another %awn in a &reat &ame' a strate&# that led directl# to the admission o the
Ottomans into the 0oncert o $uro%e in 1<>6*
I there is a certain trium%halist strain to $uro%ean histor# that %resents its %ast as a seamless stor# o
%ro&ress' it had to be invented post hoc* 5he stor# o Orientalism between 1>AA-1HAA is an
e(traordinaril# amateur one* It is ull o characters such as 9uillaume 8ostel' who believed that
s%eakin& +ebrew would return mankind to %re-?abel bliss1 men like $dmund 0astell' who died a hal-
blind %au%er tr#in& to increase knowled&e o the Orient or knowled&e.s sake1 and orientalists such as
AndrL Du D#er and Antoine 9alland' who believed that an international canon o literature could be
established and that it would be all the richer or containin& $he $housand and One )ights# It was the
a&e in which the Ottoman threat was contained and the ,ew )orld was won*
!aid.s m#o%ic em%hasis on ?ritish and "rench %erce%tions o the Orient blinded him to how the ocus
o both was actuall# on each other rather than on the Orient* I an#bod# was*corru%t' des%ostic and
licentious' then "rance was certainl# that Other*
5o the Im%erial %owers' America' then India and then the Cevant were venues o %ower-stru&&les
rather than tar&ets o con/uest in their own ri&ht*
Durin& the $nli&htenment %eriod' 0omte de ?oulainvilliers used Mohammed as a stick to bash the
0hurch and $stablishment with his 1ie de (ahomet* Boltaire %raised the %ro%het as a &reat' cunnin&
and bold leader1 he thou&ht class lines were more cons%icuous than civilisational labels* Des%otism
was removed rom the Muslim.s innate ba&&a&e and desi&nated as &eo&ra%hicall# determined
accordin& to Montes/uieu and a classical cate&or# :and thereore universal@ accordin& to de Bolne#*
)hen the leadin& thinkers o the A&e encountered Muslims' 5homas +o%e.s :1HHA-1<31@ reaction is
/uite t#%ical3
$he $ur0, where igotry interferes not with his etter feelings is as charitale as he is confiding
5his was the A&e in which ,a%oleon as a sort o Ite(tual a&ent. is meant to have been led lim%l# b# the
%u%%et strin&s o )estern tradition* +is %ro4ect a%%arentl# ac/uired realit# in his mind rom ideas
and m#ths culled rom te(ts' not em%irical realit#' or' more mundanel#' he was %ut under %ressure b#
Marseilles lobbies to secure a market in an a&e o mercantilism and considered that militaril# 0airo
was an ideal re&ional l#nch%in rom which the "rench could %ivot to 0onstantino%le or Delhi*
!aid likes to re%resent de !ac# as a sort o arch-villain who orchestrated the dark e%istemolo&ical aair
that was destined to end in colonisation but as D* Irwin notes'
2or a long time there was no cohesion in the world of the Orientalist# $heir first ,ongress too0 place
in 3aris only in 4567& largely the province of enthusiastic amateurs& not systematically refereed#
$he ul0& consisted of te8ts, their attempted decipherment or translation# $here was little in the way
of analysis or synthesis#
!aid.s %olemic also ails to address the tensions and contests between intellectual actions in the )est*
I some )esterners had Orientalist a&endas :in the %e4orative sense@' others such as $* ) Cane :1<A1-
1<H6@ were &enuinel# immersed in Oriental societies* I Mohn Dowson.s $he /istory of !ndia as told y
its own /istorians :1<6H@ received su%%ort rom the !ecretar# o !tate or India' it was also deemed b#
its critics to have disseminated not a ew ine(actitudes as well as some alse and distorted histor#*
)hat !aid labels as Orientalist seems' more accuratel#' to have been the )estern as%iration and
attem%t to make its knowled&e acultural i*e* universal* ?ehind this universal claim to knowled&e' he
discerns a universal claim to %ower3 world histor#' a eu%hemism or $uro%ean histor#' he comments*
Jet as historian !adik al-IA-m has observed' i all cultures naturall# distort others then the Occident is
behavin& %erectl# naturall# and in accordance with the &eneral rule* D* M* Barisco a&rees3 i
ob4ectivit# is to be deined onl# as vir&init# then knowled&e suers rom a orm o Midas touch*
)hilst ever#bod# can a&ree that knowled&e is sociall# constructed' the )est seems to have lacked a
consistent enou&h a&enda or commentators :includin& $* !aid@ to be able to reer meanin&ull# to a
schematisation*
And toda#' in a world in which radical Islam and )estern modernit# ostensibl# clash' the realit# is
more o%a/ue* Islamic civilisation as a livin& entit# seems to have disa%%eared' and )estern civilisation
seems to have lost its s%eciicall# $uro%ean character* I Orientalism ever had currenc#' which is
doubtul' it has certainl# been one o the irst casualties o &lobalisation*
HENRY HOPWOD-PHILLIPS works in %ublishin&
#i$lio"rap%!
i@ Orientalism' $* !aid' 19H<
ii@ -eading Orientalism9 "aid and the :nsaid' D* M* Barisco' =AAH
iii@ ,ontending 1isions of the (iddle East' N* Cockman' =AA;
iv@ !slam in European $hought' A* +ourani' 1991
v@ !slam Oscured' D* M* Barisco' =AA>
vi@ 2rom ;ael to .ragomans9 !nterpreting the (iddle East' ?* Cewis' =AA;
vii@ Orientalism -evisited9 Art, <and and 1oyage' $d* I* D* ,etton' =A13
viii@ <ust of =nowing9 $he Orientalists and their Enemies' D* Irwin' =AA6
i(@ Occidentalism' I* ?uruma O A* Mar&alit' =AA;
(@ $he "ong of -oland' Anon*' :5rans* D* C* !a#ers@' 19>H
(i@ !slam and the .ivine ,omedy' M* A* 8alacios' =AA6
(ii@ htt%3PPwww*n#times*comPbooksP99P1APA3Ps%ecialsPsaid-orientalism*html :M* +* 8lumb' 19H9@
(iii@htt%s3PPwww*amherst*eduPmediaPviewP3AH><;Pori&inalP5heQ7uestionQoQOrientalismQb#Q?ern
ardQCewisQRH0Q5heQ,ewQJorkQDeviewQoQ?ooks*%d:?* Cewis' 19<=@