Egyptian intellectuals internalized the Orientalist self-image of past greatness and present backwardness

Evidence

‘It is we who have placed ourselves in this position. There is one thing that unites us all in the Orient: our past greatness and our present backwardness.’ — Timothy Mitchell, Colonising Egypt, 525

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Said’s Orientalism and the internalization of colonial categories — a classic postcolonial mechanism.
• QUESTION: How exactly did personal acquaintance with Orientalists convert an editor’s skepticism into acceptance?