***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 deorientalism 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$ deorientalism 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* Deorientalism 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 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
"ther, can nonetheless put forth theses a/out the "ther?s perspective as truth0 The de-orientalist 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$ aspects 0 #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 #mperialism0 A /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 7oreover, d&e

have, especially the latter, %een overloo!ed %$ /aid*? 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 crosslinguistic0 #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 fla4s9 A 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/ert0 A 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$s constit&ted acts of oppression 0 #n a single dramatic move, 4hich had great appeal for many, /aid committed the 'reatest sin'le scholarl$ 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&e 0 (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 the A personal pronoun @4e,@ ho4 many 4ould have guessed that an Ara/0 let alone A +d4ard ;aid0 had 4ritten it2 And yet, ironically0 4hat ma6es self-e:amination for A Ara/s and 7uslims0 and especially criticism of #slam in the 1est0 very difficult is A 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$-in short, t"istin' the tr&th0 ut in any case0 he does notA /elieve in the @truth0@ A ;aid attac6s not only the entire discipline of "rientalism 4hich is devotedA to the academic study of the "rient and 4hich ;aid accuses of perpetuating negative racial stereotypes, anti-Ara/ and anti-#slamic pre.udice, and the myth of A an unchanging, essential @"rient,@ /ut he also accuses "rientalists as /eing a A group complicit 4ith imperial po4er and holds them responsi/le for creating A the distinction /et4een 1estem superiority and "riental inferiority, 4hich theyA achieve /y suppressing the voice of the @"riental@ and /y their antihuman tendency to ma6e huge0 /ut vague, generali%ations a/out entire populations that inA reality consist of millions of individuals0 #n other 4ords, m&ch of "hat "as? "ritten a%o&t the Orient in 'eneral* and 0slam and 0slamic civili-ation in partic-? &lar, "as false* The Orientalists also stand acc&sed of creatin' (the Other(-the? non-<&ropean, al"a$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 4ith A the fate of assumptions of 1estern superiority in the face of military reverse at the hands A 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 commitments A 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 /egan A to mount0 Anti-

colonial, nationalist "ars in the 1hird +orld led to re'ime chan'e in A 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$, of s&ch "ars is a A conse2&ence of the constit&tive role of the Orient, %roadl$ &nderstood, in +estern A 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&mstances 0A
There is no more o/vious sign of 1estern 4ea6ness and "riental strength than defeat in A /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
in commercials here in ;4eden0 ;o finally there is a time to as6 ourselves- is

and colonial nostalgia reproduced in arts, movies and literature0 This 6ind of popular orientalism is for e:ample e:tremely 4ell-represented

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 'o0 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$,D,),'', Pstor, (&'D-(&(I) ,,AA third and yet more trou/ling pro%lem for historians reading Orientalism is ;aid?s d&%io&s epistemolo'ical relationship to matters of ca&se and effect 0 Discourse theory and postmodernism generally have sha6en old certainties a/out history as a 6ind of science, a divining rod, 4hich, properly 4ielded, 4ill indicate the truth0 #n the postmodern universe, there is no truth, .ust self-serving @realities@ promoted /y regimes of po4er0 @>eality is the creature of language,@ and @1estern 7an a modern-day Fulliver, tied do4n 4ith ideological ropes and incapa/le of transcendence /ecause he can never get /eyond the veil of language to the reality ?out there,?@ as three historians have summari%ed it0 3ollo4ing 8iet%sche and <eidegger, postmodernists li6e 7ichel 3oucault deny the linearity of the historical process= thus @causation should /e pitched out0@ 3or /etter or 4orse, most historians still /elieve that they are engaged in a search for reasons 4hy things happened as they did0 An event occurs, li6e the American >evolution0 #t is not, they say, a construct or a representation /ut a revolution, properly named0 There are reasons 4hy the revolution occurred, and even though historians might assign different 4eights to these reasons or argue over 4hether some of them mattered at all , the$ 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) ,,A7or diplomatic historians, the lin! %et"een ca&se and effect is cr&cial, and this constit&tes another area of disa'reement "ith /aid 0 #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 effect 0 #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 clear 0G # 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 rationalism 0 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 @onspiracies 0@ <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 /eginning A of Lionist planning9 <er%l used the idea, 1ei%mann used it, every leading #sraeli A 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 indecent A 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 an A "riental0 The 4e/ of racism, cultural stereotypes, political imperialism, dehumani%ing ideology holding in the Ara/ or the 7uslim is very strong indeed, and A it is this 4e/ 4hich every Palestinian has come to feel as his uni*uely punishing A 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$? that too! him in and heaped honors on him, is na&seatin', As lan uruma concluded in his revie4 of ;aid?s memoir, "ut of Place, @1he more he d"ells on his? s&fferin' and his e8ile stat&s, the more his admirers admire him 0 "n me, ho4ever, it has the opposite effect0 "f all the attitudes that shape a memoir, self-pity A is the least attractive0@ 1he p&tative con2&est of <'$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 .ust A 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, and A the 3rench failed to capture 7urad ey0 >iots /ro6e out 4hen a house ta: 4as A introduced in Cairo, and the 3rench general Domini*ue-7artin Dupuy, lieu tenant governor of Cairo, 4as 6illed0 3urther riots /ro6e out among the 7uslims A 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 of A
-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 aspired A 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 the A help, once again, of the great po4ers- ritain, >ussia, Austria, and Prussia-that A 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 into A a modern imperial po4er0 y the mid-(GI's, @a vast +gyptian empire had come A 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, and A in The acchae of +uripides, the very last one e:tant 0000 The t4o aspects of the A "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 the A modern period* 1his is a tradition that accommodates perspectives as diver'ent A 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 @The A
"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)0 A <ere 4e have ;aid?s reductionistic a/surdity9 the @average nineteenth-century A +uropean0@ A part of /aid,s

tactic is to leave o&t +estern "riters and scholars "ho do A not conform to his theoretical frame"or!* /ince, for /aid, all <&ropeans are a A 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 their A 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 1estem A 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'enda 0 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&slims 0 As >odinson himself points out else-A 4here, one of the three scholars 4ho 4as a pioneer in this very field 4as ernard A 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'ination 0 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 4or6s A 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 his A -"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, 8i66i A -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 at A 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$,4 Al/ert <ourani, much admired /y ;aid, made a similar point9 @l thin6 all this A tal6 after +d4ard?s /oo6 also has a certain danger0 1here is a certain co&nter- A attac! of E&slims, "ho sa$ 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 Orientalists X# 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 the A (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$-ed came from the ei'hteenth and nineteenth cent&ries, %&t these "ere marshalled %$ $o&n' Ara% and (pro-Ara%( scholars into an A intellect&alpolitical a'enda that "as o&t of !ilter "ith the real needs of Ara%s A "ho "ere livin' in a "orld characteri-ed %$ 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 /e A /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? young A 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-ationnamel$, rationalism, &niversalism, and self-criticism 0 "ne couldA fperhaps argue that universalism and self-criticism 4ere the logical outcomes ofA rationalism, /ut ( thin6 it more useful to vie4 them as separate /ut interconnected A sets of /eliefs and principles0 ;econd, 1estern civili%ation can, and has /een,A characteri%ed in several other 4ays? # thin6 many of the suggested distinguishingA characteristics of the 1est, such as the separation of spirit&al and temporal? a&thorit$, can %e said to derive from one or more of the three 'olden threads 0A 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&mes 0 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 /yover4helmed /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&t A #ndia, Persia, and the 5ear <ast in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries0