Said, Edward (1977)Orientalism. London: Penguin Said, Edward(1977)Orientalism. London: Penguin Contents Preface(2003) Acknowledgments Introduction 12 12 16 Chapter 1. The Scope of Orientalism I Knowing the Oriental II Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental III Projects IV Crisis Chapter 2 Orientalist Structures and restructures I Redrawn Frontiers, Redefined Issues, Secularized Religion II Silvestre de sacy and Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology and Philological Laboratory.. III Oriental Residence and Scholarship: The Requirements of Lexicography and Imagination IV Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, British and French 3. Orientalism Now 116 I Latent and Manifest Orientalism 117 II Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalism's Worldliness 130 III Modern Anglo-French Orientalism in Fullest Flower ·,, v The latest pha 163 Afterword(1995) 189 II Notes 204 Introduction 204 Chapter 1. The Scope of Orientalism 205 Chapter 2. Orientalist Structures and Restructures 208 Chapter 3. Orientalism Noy 213 Afterword 217 Ine 217
Said, Edward (1977) Orientalism. London: Penguin Said, Edward (1977)) Orientalism. London: Penguin ......................................................... 1 Contents............................................................................................................................... 4 Preface (2003)...................................................................................................................... 4 Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................. 11 Introduction........................................................................................................................ 12 I ...................................................................................................................................... 12 II..................................................................................................................................... 14 III.................................................................................................................................... 16 Chapter 1. The Scope of Orientalism ........................................................................... 28 I Knowing the Oriental............................................................................................ 28 II Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental.............. 38 III Projects...................................................................................................................... 51 IV Crisis......................................................................................................................... 61 Chapter 2 Orientalist Structures and Restructures............................................................. 72 I Redrawn Frontiers, Redefined Issues, Secularized Religion....................................... 72 II Silvestre de Sacy and Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology and Philological Laboratory...................................................................................................................... 77 III Oriental Residence and Scholarship: The Requirements of Lexicography and Imagination .................................................................................................................... 91 IV Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, British and French ........................................................ 100 3. Orientalism Now.......................................................................................................... 116 I Latent and Manifest Orientalism............................................................................... 117 II Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalism 's Worldliness................................................. 130 III Modern Anglo-French Orientalism in Fullest Flower ............................................ 145 IV The Latest Phase ..................................................................................................... 163 Afterword (1995) ............................................................................................................. 189 I .................................................................................................................................... 189 II................................................................................................................................... 200 Notes................................................................................................................................ 204 Introduction.................................................................................................................. 204 Chapter 1. The Scope of Orientalism........................................................................... 205 Chapter 2. Orientalist Structures and Restructures...................................................... 208 Chapter 3. Orientalism Now ........................................................................................ 213 Afterword..................................................................................................................... 217 Index ................................................................................................................................ 217
PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, victoria 3124, Australia elhi-110 017, India Penguin Books (South Africa)(Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avene, Rosebank 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England First published by Routledge& Kegan Paul Ltd 1978 95 Reprinted with a new Preface 2003 (6) Published by arrangement with Pantheon Books, a Division of Random House Ine. All rights reserved Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives ple pest in Tumes Roman Except in the United States of America, this book is sold sub cond being imposed on the subsequent purchas rateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material: George Allen Unwin, Ltd. Excerpts from Revolution in the Middle and Other Case Studies, proceedings of a seminar, edited by P.J. vatikiotis American Jewish Committee: Excerpts from The Return of Islam"by Bernard Lewis, in Commentary, vol 61, no. 1 (January 1976) printed from Corrm Copyright o 1976 by Basic Books, Inc: Excerpts from"R hilological Laboratory" by Edward W.Said, in Art, Politics, and Will: Essays of lionel Trilling, edited by Quentin Anderson et al. Copyright o 1977 by Basic Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of Francis Steegmuller: Excerpts from Flaubert in Egypt, translated and edited by Francis St The Godley Head and Mclntosh Or er and The Bodley Head. Jonathan Cape, Ltd, and The Letters of T. E. Lawrence Trust: Excerpt from The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett
PENGUIN BOOKS PENGUIN BOOKS Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England Penguin Putnam Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA Penguin Books Australia Ltd, 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia Penguin Books Canada Ltd, 10 Alcorn Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M4 V 3B2 Penguin Books India (P) Ltd, I 1 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi — 110 017, India Penguin Books (NZ) Ltd, Cnr Rosedale and Airborne Roads, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R ORL, England www.penguin.com First published by Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd 1978 Published in Peregrine Books 1985 Reprinted in Penguin Books 1991 Reprinted with a new Afterword 1995 Reprinted with a new Preface 2003 ((6)) Copyright O Edward W. Said, 1978, 1995, 2003 Published by arrangement with Pantheon Books, a Division of Random House Inc. All rights reserved Printed in England by Clays Ltd, St Ives plc Typeset in Times Roman Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher' s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following for permission to reprint previously published material: George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.: Excerpts from Subjects the Day: Being a Selection of Speeches and Writings by George Nathaniel Curzon. George Allen & Unwin, Ltd.: Excerpts from Revolution in the Middle and Other Case Studies, proceedings of a seminar, edited by P. J. Vatikiotis. American Jewish Committee: Excerpts from "The Return of Islam" by Bernard Lewis, in Commentary, vol. 61, no. 1 (January 1976). Reprinted from Commentary by permission. Copyright © 1976 by the American Jewish Committee. Basic Books, Inc.: Excerpts from "Renan's Philological Laboratory" by Edward W. Said, in Art, Politics, and Will: Essays in Honor of Lionel Trilling, edited by Quentin Anderson et al. Copyright © 1977 by Basic Books, Inc. The Godley Head and McIntosh & Otis, Inc.: Excerpts from Flaubert in Egypt, translated and edited by Francis Steegmuller. Reprinted by permission of Francis Steegmuller and The Bodley Head. Jonathan Cape, Ltd., and The Letters of T. E. Lawrence Trust: Excerpt from The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, edited by David Garnett
Jonathan Cape, Ltd, The Seven Pillars Trust, and Doubleday Co, Inc: Excerpt from The Seven Pillars of wisdom: A Trumph by Doubleday Co, Inc and A P Watt Sons, Ltd. Excerpt from Verse by Rudyard Kipling The Georgia Review: Excerpts from " Orientalism, which originally appeared in The Georgia Review(Spring 1977). Copyright c1977 by the University of Georgia. Harper &s Row, Publishers, Inc: Excerpt from a poem by Bonier(1862), quoted in De Lesseps of Suez by Charles Beatty Macmillan Co., London and Basingstoke: Excerpts from Moden Egypt, vol 2, by Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer mcmillan Publishing Co, Inc: Excerpt from "Propaganda"by Harold Lasswell, in The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by Edwin R A. Seligman, vol. 12(1934) mcmillan Publishing Co.. Inc, and A. P. Watt Sons, Ltd. Excerpt from"Byzantium"by William Butler Yeats, in The Collected Poems. Copyright 1933 by Macmillan Publishing Co, Inc, renewed 1961 by Bertha Georgie Yeats. The New York Times Company: Excerpts from Arabs, Islam, and the Dogmas of the West" by Edward w. Said, in The New York Times Book Review, October 31, 1976. Copyright o 1976 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission Northwestern University Press: Excerpt from The Arab Portrayed" by Edward w. Said, in The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective, edited by Ibrahim Abu-Lughod. Copyright o 1970 by North-western University Press. Prentice-Hall, Inc: Excerpt from The Persians by Aeschylus, translated by Anthony J. Podleck Copyright o 1970 by Prentice-Ha The Royal Asiatic Society, Great Britain and Ireland: Excerpt from "Louis Massignon(1882-1962), in Journal ofthe Royal Asiatic iety(1962) University of California Press: Excerpts from Modern Islam: The Search for Cultural Identity by Gustave von Grunebaum. Copyright o 1962 by the regents of the University of Californi University of Chicago Press: Excerpts from Modern Trends in Islam by H. A R. Gibb
Jonathan Cape, Ltd., The Seven Pillars Trust, and Doubleday & Co., Inc.: Excerpt from The Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T. E. Lawrence. Copyright 1926, 1935 by Doubleday & Co., Inc. Doubleday & Co., Inc., and A. P. Watt & Sons, Ltd.: Excerpt from Verse by Rudyard Kipling. The Georgia Review: Excerpts from "Orientalism," which originally appeared in The Georgia Review (Spring 1977). Copyright ©1977 by the University of Georgia. Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.: Excerpt from a poem by Bornier (1862), quoted in De Lesseps of Suez by Charles Beatty. Macmillan & Co., London and Basingstoke: Excerpts from Modern Egypt, vol. 2, by Evelyn Baring, Lord Cromer. Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.: Excerpt from "Propaganda" by Harold Lasswell, in The Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by Edwin R. A. Seligman, vol. 12 (1934). Macmillan Publishing Co.. Inc., and A. P. Watt & Sons, Ltd.: Excerpt from "Byzantium" by William Butler Yeats, in The Collected Poems. Copyright 1933 by Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., renewed 1961 by Bertha Georgie Yeats. The New York Times Company: Excerpts from "Arabs, Islam, and the Dogmas of the West" by Edward W. Said, in The New York Times Book Review, October 31, 1976. Copyright © 1976 by The New York Times Company. Reprinted by permission. Northwestern University Press: Excerpt from "The Arab Portrayed" by Edward W. Said, in The Arab-Israeli Confrontation of June 1967: An Arab Perspective, edited by Ibrahim Abu-Lughod. Copyright © 1970 by North-western University Press. Prentice-Hall, Inc.: Excerpt from The Persians by Aeschylus, translated by Anthony J. Podleck. Copyright © 1970 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. v The Royal Asiatic Society, Great Britain and Ireland: Excerpt from "Louis Massignon (1882-1962)," in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1962). University of California Press: Excerpts from Modern Islam: The Search for Cultural Identity by Gustave von Grunebaum. Copyright © 1962 by the Regents of the University of California. University of Chicago Press: Excerpts from Modern Trends in Islam by H. A. R. Gibb
Contents Preface(2003)xi Acknowledgments xxi Introduction Chapter 1 The Scope of Orientalism I. Knowing the Oriental 31 H. Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the Orental 49 Ill. Projects 73 IV. Crisis 92 Chapter 2 Orientalist Structures and Restructures I Redrawn Frontiers, Redefined Issues, Secularized Religion 113 II. Silvestre de Sacy and Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology and Philological Laboratory 123 Ill. Oriental Residence and scholarship The Requirements of lexicography and Imagination 149 IV. Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, British and French 1( Orientalism Now I. Latent and Manifest Orientalism 201 Il. Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalisms Worldliness 226 Ill. Modern Anglo-French Orientalism in Fullest Flower 255 IV. The Latest phase 284 fterword(1995) Notes 355 ((xi)) Preface(2003) Nine years ago, in the spring of 1994, I wrote an afterword for Orientalism in which, in trying to clarify what I believed I had and had not said, I stressed not only the many discussions that had eared in 1978. but also representations of the Orient" lends itself to increasing misrepresentation and misinterpretation. That I find the very same thing today more ironic than irritating is a sign of how much my age has crept up on me, along with the necessary diminutions in expectations and pedagogic zeal which usually frame the road to seniority. The recent death of my two main intellectual, political and personal mentors, Eqbal Ahmad and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (who is one of the work's dedicatees) has brought sadness and loss, as well as resignation and a certain stubborn will to go on. It isn't at all a matter of being optimistic, but rather of continuing to have faith in the ongoing ar literally unending process of emancipation and enlightenment that, in my opinion, frames and gives direction to the intellectual vocation
Contents Preface (2003) xi Acknowledgments xxv Introduction Chapter 1 The Scope of Orientalism I. Knowing the Oriental 31 H. Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental 49 III. Projects 73 IV. Crisis 92 Chapter 2 Orientalist Structures and Restructures I. Redrawn Frontiers, Redefined Issues, Secularized Religion 113 II. Silvestre de Sacy and Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology and Philological Laboratory 123 III. Oriental Residence and Scholarship: The Requirements of Lexicography and Imagination 149 IV. Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, British and French 166 Chapter Orientalism Now I. Latent and Manifest Orientalism 201 II. Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalism's Worldliness 226 III. Modern Anglo-French Orientalism in Fullest Flower 255 IV. The Latest Phase 284 Afterword (1995) Notes 355 Index 379 ((xi)) Preface (2003) Nine years ago, in the spring of 1994, I wrote an afterword for Orientalism in which, in trying to clarify what I believed I had and had not said, I stressed not only the many discussions that had opened up since my book appeared in 1978, but also the ways in which a work about representations of "the Orient" lends itself to increasing misrepresentation and misinterpretation. That I find the very same thing today more ironic than irritating is a sign of how much my age has crept up on me, along with the necessary diminutions in expectations and pedagogic zeal which usually frame the road to seniority. The recent death of my two main intellectual, political and personal mentors, Eqbal Ahmad and Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (who is one of the work's dedicatees) has brought sadness and loss, as well as resignation and a certain stubborn will to go on. It isn't at all a matter of being optimistic, but rather of continuing to have faith in the ongoing and literally unending process of emancipation and enlightenment that, in my opinion, frames and gives direction to the intellectual vocation. Nevertheless it is still a source of amazement to me that Orientalism continues to be discussed
and translated all over the world, in thirty-six languages. Thanks to the efforts of my dear friend and colleague Professor Gaby Peterberg, now of UCLA, formerly of Ben Gurion University in Israel there is a Hebrew version of the book available. which has stimulated considerable discussion and debate among Israeli readers and students. In addition, a Vietnamese translation has appeared under Australian auspices; I hope it's not immodest to say that an Indochinese intellectual space seems to have opened up for the propositions of this book. In any case, it gives me great pleasure to note as an author who had never dreamed of any such happy fate for his work that interest in what I tried to do in my book hasn't completely died down, particularly in the many different lands of the "Orient "itself. In part, of course, that is because the Middle East, the Arabs and Islam have continued to fuel enormous change, struggle, controversy and, as I write these lines, war. As I said many years ago, Orientalism is the product of circumstances that are fundamentally, indeed radically, fractious. In my memoir Out of place(1999)I described the strange and contradictory worlds in which I grew up, providing for myself and my readers a detailed account of the settings that I think formed me in Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon. But that was only a very personal account that stopped short of all the years of my own political engagement that started after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war,a war in whose continuing aftermath(Israel is still in military occupation of the Palestinian territories and the golan Heights) the terms of struggle and the ideas at stake that were crucial for my generation of Arabs and Americans eem to go on. Nevertheless I do want to affirm yet again that this book and, for that matter, my intellectual work generally have really been enabled by my life as a university academic. For all its often noted defects and problems the American university-and mine, Columbia, in particular is still one of the few remaining places in the United States where reflection and study can take place in an almost utopian fashion. I have never taught anything about the Middle East, being by training and practice a teacher of the mainly European and American humanities, a special-ist in modem comparative literature. The university and my pedagogic work with two generations of first and excellent colleagues have made possible the kind of deliberately meditated and analyzed sti that this book contains, which for all its urgent worldly references is still a book about culture, ideas, history and power, rather than Middle Eastern politics lout court, That was my notion from the beginning, and it is very evident and a good deal clearer to me today. Yet Orientalism is very much a book tied to the tumultuous ics of contemporary history. I emphasize in it accordingly that neither the term Orient nor the concept of the Las any ontological stability; each is made up of human effort, partly affirmation, partly identification of the That these supreme fictions lend themselves easily to manipulation and the organization of collective passion has never been more evident than in our time Then the mobilizations of fear, hatred, disgust and resurgent self- pride and arrogance--much of it having to do with Islam and the arabs on one side, "we"Westerners on the other-are very large-scale enterprises. Orientalism's first page opens with a 1975 description of the Lebanese Civil War that ended 0, but the violence and the ugly shedding of human blood continues up to this minute. We have had the failure of the Oslo peace process, the outbreak of the second intifada, and the awful suffering of the palestinians on the reinvaded West Bank and Gaza, with Israeli F-16s and Apache helicopters used routinely on the defenseless civilians as part of their collective punishment. The suicide bombing phenomenon has appeared with all its hideous damage, none more lurid and apocalyptic of course than the events of September I l and their aftermath in the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. As I gal and unsanctioned imperial invasion and occupation of Iraq by britain and the United States This is all part of what is supposed to be a clash of civilizations, unending, implacable, irremediable. Nevertheless, I think I wish I could say, however, that general understanding of the Middle East, the Arabs and Islam in the United States has
and translated all over the world, in thirty-six languages. Thanks to the efforts of my dear friend and colleague Professor Gaby Peterberg, now of UCLA, formerly of Ben Gurion University in Israel, there is a Hebrew version of the book available, which has stimulated considerable discussion and debate among Israeli readers and students. In addition, a Vietnamese translation has appeared under Australian auspices; I hope it's not immodest to say that an Indochinese intellectual space seems to have opened up for the propositions of this book. In any case, it gives me great pleasure to note as an author who had never dreamed of any such happy fate for his work that interest in what I tried to do in my ((xii)) book hasn't completely died down, particularly in the many different lands of the "Orient" itself. In part, of course, that is because the Middle East, the Arabs and Islam have continued to fuel enormous change, struggle, controversy and, as I write these lines, war. As I said many years ago, Orientalism is the product of circumstances that are fundamentally, indeed radically, fractious. In my memoir Out of Place (1999) I described the strange and contradictory worlds in which I grew up, providing for myself and my readers a detailed account of the settings that I think formed me in Palestine, Egypt and Lebanon. But that was only a very personal account that stopped short of all the years of my own political engagement that started after the 1967 Arab–Israeli war, a war in whose continuing aftermath (Israel is still in military occupation of the Palestinian territories and the Golan Heights) the terms of struggle and the ideas at stake that were crucial for my generation of Arabs and Americans seem to go on. Nevertheless I do want to affirm yet again that this book and, for that matter, my intellectual work generally have really been enabled by my life as a university academic. For all its often noted defects and problems, the American university— and mine, Columbia, in particular is still one of the few remaining places in the United States where reflection and study can take place in an almost utopian fashion. I have never taught anything about the Middle East, being by training and practice a teacher of the mainly European and American humanities, a special-ist in modem comparative literature. The university and my pedagogic work with two generations of firstclass students and excellent colleagues have made possible the kind of deliberately meditated and analyzed study that this book contains, which for all its urgent worldly references is still a book about culture, ideas, history and power, rather than Middle Eastern politics tout court. That was my notion from the beginning, and it is very evident and a good deal clearer to me today. Yet Orientalism is very much a book tied to the tumultuous dynamics of contemporary history. I emphasize in it accordingly that neither the term Orient nor the concept of the West has any ontological stability; each is made up of human effort, partly affirmation, partly identification of the Other. That these supreme fictions lend themselves easily to manipulation and the organization of collective passion has never been more evident than in our time, when the mobilizations of fear, hatred, disgust and resurgent selfpride and arrogance— much of it having to do with Islam and the Arabs on one side, "we" Westerners on the other— are very large-scale enterprises. Orientalism's first page opens with a 1975 description of the Lebanese Civil War that ended in 1990, but the violence and the ugly shedding of human blood continues up to this minute. We have had the failure of the Oslo peace process, the outbreak of the second intifada, and the awful suffering of the Palestinians on the reinvaded West Bank and Gaza, with Israeli F-16's and Apache helicopters used routinely on the defenseless civilians as part of their collective punishment. The suicide bombing phenomenon has appeared with all its hideous damage, none more lurid and apocalyptic of course than the events of September 11 and their aftermath in the wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. As I write these lines, the illegal and unsanctioned imperial invasion and occupation of Iraq by Britain and the United States proceeds, with a prospect of physical ravagement, political unrest and more invasions that is truly awful to contemplate. This is all part of what is supposed to be a clash of civilizations, unending, implacable, irremediable. Nevertheless, I think not. I wish I could say, however, that general understanding of the Middle East, the Arabs and Islam in the United States has