Orientalism disciplined the exotic into lexicons, codes, and clichés

Evidence

Without what he called spirit and style, the mind could “get lost in archaeology”: he was referring to a sort of regimented antiquarianism by which the exotic and the strange would get formulated into lexicons, codes, and finally clichés of the kind he was to ridicule in the Dictionnaire des idées reçues. Under the influence of such an attitude the world would be “regulated like a college. Teachers will be the law. Everyone will be in uniform.” — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 487

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the mechanism of Orientalist reduction: regimented antiquarianism that squeezes living material into clichés.
• SEED: Angle: Flaubert’s critique of academic regulation as a template for how knowledge institutions discipline unruly subject matter.
• corroborated: 3 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 487
• XREF: connects to: Classification into an encyclopedia entry neutralizes the threat of heresy; Orientalism operates as radical realism, enumerative rhetoric, and paranoia.; Indo-European philology grounded European languages in a harmless Oriental source. (+17 more)

Broader Connections

• Orientalism is knowledge that disciplines its object through dominating frameworks #expands (0.88)
• Orientalism fixed the Orient as uniform, undeveloped, and incapable of self-definition #expands (0.85) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 188