Renan solidified Orientalism by attaching it to philology

Evidence

Nevertheless the process he started would continue, as philology in particular developed systematic and institutional powers Sacy had never exploited. This was Renan’s accomplishment: to have associated the Orient with the most recent comparative disciplines, of which philology was one of the most eminent. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 346

Categorization

• XREF: Links to the biopolitical/colonial-psychology strand of the reading list — how a discipline gains authority by borrowing the cachet of another, more ‘scientific’ field.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 346