Abstract
Said's most significant argument is that texts of Orientalism can create not only knowledge but also the very reality they appear to describe. At the same time his most important political claim is that as a system of learning about the Orient, Orientalism has close ties to enabling socio-economic and political institutions to the extent that it can be seen to have justified colonialism in advance as well as successfully facilitating its successful operation. On the one hand Said maintains that Orientalism is a system of representation, a discursive field with an internal consistency', which has no connection with the 'real Orient', while on the other hand he also seeks to prop colonialism and imperialism on the knowledge accumulated or constructed by Orientalism. In the present paper we look into the theoretical objections of Aijaz Ahmad and Robert Young to Said’s position regarding Orientalism as a discourse in the Foucauldian mould.
Reference
- Gandhi, Leela (1998) Post-Colonial Theory, Oxford University Press, Delhi. p. 68.
- Aijaz Ahmed, 1992, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. p. 190.
- Ibid, p. 192
- Gandhi, Leela (1998) Post-Colonial Theory, Oxford University Press, Delhi. p. 74.
- Cited in Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London.
- Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 126
- Aijaz Ahmed, 1992, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. p. 176.
- Sardar, Ziauddin, 2002, Orientalism, Viva Books, New Delhi. p. 67.
- Said, Edward, W. (1979). Orientalism, Vintage, New York. p. 03
- Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 127.
- Said, Edward, W. (1979). Orientalism, Vintage, New York. p. 203. 12.
- Ibid, p. 21.
- Ibid, p. 94
- Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. pp. 129-30.
- Ibid, p. 130.
- 'Edward Said and Post-Colonial Theory' in Journal of Literary Criticism, ed. Rajnath, Vol. ix no. 2. p. 32
- Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 131.
- Sardar, Ziauddin, 2002, Orientalism, Viva Books, New Delhi. p. 73.
- Ibid, p. 73.
- Ibid, p. 74
- Ibid, p. 74
- Cited in White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 134.
- Sardar, Ziauddin, 2002, Orientalism, Viva Books, New Delhi. p. 72.
- Aijaz Ahmed, 1992, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, Oxford University Press, New Delhi. p. 200.
- Young, Robert, 1990, White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 136.
- Cited in Post-Colonial Theory. p. 79.
- Cited in White Mythologies: Writing History and the West, Routledge, London. p. 138.
Dr Prabin Sinha
Associate Professor, Department of English, D. A. V. P. G. College, Gorakhpur, U. P., India
Received: 03-05-2016, Accepted: 06-06-2016, Published Online: 14-06-2016