Said distanced himself from Foucault by citing Poulantzas and Chomsky.

Evidence

Two other essays in the book, which are in fact the bestknown and the most influential- ‘Criticism between Culture and System’ and ‘Travelling Theory’- were evidently written some rime after Orienta- /ism and are notable not so much for explicating Said’s preference for Foucault over Derrida as for his partial distancing of himself from Foucault. This distancing is facilitated by his reliance on criticisms of Foucault which had been framed already by Poulantzas’ and Chomsky, whom Said cites directly, and part of what Said now says about Foucault is uncannily similar to some points I have raised above about Orienta/ism itself. The following extract from ‘Travelling Theory’, intended to express reservations about Foucault and his notion of Power, applies almost exactly to Said himself and his conception of Oriental ism: Foucault’s eagerness nor to fall into Marxist economtsm causes him ro obliterate the role of classes, the role of economics, the role of insurgency and rebellion in the societies he discusses. — Aijaz Ahmad, In Theory, 828

Categorization

• XREF: Said’s self-distancing from Foucault while still being caught in discourse-determinism mirrors the reader’s Foucault-to-Spivak lineage: even the critic of discourse theory remains entangled in it — a parallel to Ahmad’s charge against strategic essentialism holders.