Said’s critique did not depend on professional historiography skills

Evidence

It may be argued that had Said been adept at professional historiography, a discipline critiqued throughout this book, he would likely not have fared any better in his historical diagnosis. This argument would be valid only if we assume that his critique rests squarely on the narratives of modern historiography, which obviously is not the case. “Historical sense” only requires Said to detect the full meaning of modernity as an epistemic transformation in human history, to see that Orientalism is the creation of a distinctly modern structure. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 604

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies what ‘historical sense’ means here: detecting modernity as an epistemic transformation, not practicing professional historiography.