Said’s critique of Orientalism relies on the same modernist assumptions that produced it

Evidence

But to modify MacIntyre’s theory of tradition does not necessarily mean that it must be reinterpreted in light of the Saidian theory of power as adapted from Foucault. As I have shown, Said’s work on Orientalism remained anchored and defined by a series of premises and assumptions that reinforce the very modernist and liberal positions that gave rise to Orientalism in the first place. — Wael Hallaq, Restating Orientalism, 476

Categorization

• XREF: Directly extends Hallaq’s running critique of Said; connects to the Saidian-Orientalism discourse in this book’s earlier chapters and to Foucault’s power/knowledge literature generally. — connects to: Said’s work embodies the contradictions of the literary theory tradition — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 68; Said’s Orientalism replaced Marxism with Foucauldian Discourse Theory — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory: Classes, Nations, Literatures, 723