Lucy's review
Orientalism (Penguin Modern Classics)
by Edward W. Said
Have you read: Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's ORIENTALISM. by Ibn Warraq? I think I shall re-read ORIENTALISM & read Warraq's book for a, hopefully, fair & reasonably balanced view of the subject. Any comments on either book would be appreciated, thank-you.
Lucy's review
Orientalism (Penguin Modern Classics) by Edward W. Said
Lucy's review
rating:
bookshelves:
anthro-hist-religion,
the-mile,
the-orient
I think the problem with reading Orientalism today is that much of what he says (that was so revolutionary at the time) is so accepted now (at least among most academics). He's a brilliant writer, although he did irritate me at times (he constantly vilified anyone trying to represent anything, claiming, rightfully, that it is only possible to have a misrepresentation of anything built on one's own experiences and culture, and I did truly want to remind him that was what he was doing with Orientalism, too). Some of his scholarship is also a bit off (mistaking certain writers for other people with the same name, that sort of thing), but still, a seminal work. (One last aside--I would have also liked to have seen more women writers acknowledged by him, although at least in the case of Lucie Duff Gordon, he would have been more hardpressed to criticize her as he could some of the major Orientalists.)
Have you read: Defending the West: A Critique of Edward Said's ORIENTALISM. by Ibn Warraq? I think I shall re-read ORIENTALISM & read Warraq's book for a, hopefully, fair & reasonably balanced view of the subject. Any comments on either book would be appreciated, thank-you.