Said never corrected factual errors in Orientalism and refused to concede points

Evidence

It was the Middle East crisis of 1973 that provoked Said to research and write Orientalism, which was published in 1978. Despite early highly critical reviews, the book went on to become a cult classic and has been translated into thirty-five languages. Although the English language version has been reprinted again and again, Said made no attempt to correct any of the factual errors that were pointed out when it first appeared. Indeed, Said subsequently added a smug ‘Afterword’ in which he refused to concede any points and roundly abused critics of the book. — Robert Irwin, For Lust of Knowing, 507

Categorization

• QUESTION: Worth chasing: which specific factual errors did early reviewers identify, and did refusing to correct them serve or undermine Orientalism’s influence?

Related

• Orientalism’s cult following grew among nonspecialists despite no corrections to its errors (similarity 0.84)
• Said’s liberalism foreclosed any possibility that the Orient could instruct the West (similarity 0.83)
• Said held that Orientalism cannot be corrected by factual research because it is power. (similarity 0.83)
• Orientalism changed no scholarly practices and disturbed no imperialists (similarity 0.83)
• Arab critics attacked Said for stereotyping Orientalism and misrepresenting Islam (similarity 0.83)
• Said’s critique of Orientalism is inadequate for refashioning the discipline. (similarity 0.83)
• Said’s Orientalism critique has done more harm than good, delegitimizing the search for knowledge, ignoring Muslim scholars’ positive contributions, and denigrating real threats like Islamist… (similarity 0.83)
• Many Orientalists wrote directly for Muslim and Arab audiences (similarity 0.82)
• Said’s Orientalism targets the Middle East, not the Far East. (similarity 0.82)
• Prominent critics of Orientalism have praised scholars deeply complicit in its assumptions. (similarity 0.82)
• No critique of Orientalism has displaced or surpassed Said’s book (similarity 0.82)
• Said’s critique stayed at representation because going further would destroy his liberal commitments (similarity 0.82)
• Said contradicts himself by also crediting the prior critics he dismisses. (similarity 0.82)
• Said’s critique of Orientalism relies on the same modernist assumptions that produced it (similarity 0.81)
• Said conceded his Orientalism arguments had all been made by earlier non-Western critics (similarity 0.81)