The Orient is a system of representations, not a place

Evidence

We must take seriously Vico’s great observation that men make their own history, that what they can know is what they have made, and extend it to geography: as both geographical and cultural entities—to say nothing of historical entities—such locales, regions, geographical sectors as “Orient” and “Occident” are man-made. Therefore as much as the West itself, the Orient is an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery, and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence in and for the West. The two geographical entities thus support and to an extent reflect each other. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 58 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

The methodological failures of Orientalism cannot be accounted for either by saying that the real Orient is different from Orientalist portraits of it, or by saying that since Orientalists are Westerners for the most part, they cannot be expected to have an inner sense of what the Orient is all about. Both of these propositions are false. It is not the thesis of this book to suggest that there is such a thing as a real or true Orient (Islam, Arab, or whatever); nor is it to make an assertion about the necessary privilege of an “insider” perspective over an “outsider” one, to use Robert K. Merton’s useful distinction. On the contrary, I have been arguing that “the Orient” is itself a constituted entity, and that the notion that there are geographical spaces with indigenous, radically “different” inhabitants who can be defined on the basis of some religion, culture, or racial essence proper to that geographical space is equally a highly debatable idea. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 818 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Representation constructs the Orient as a closed theatrical stage, not an open reality.; Comparative description of the Orient functions as evaluation and judgment.; The Orient is a topos built from citations, not a place observed (+8 more)

Related

• Representation constructs the Orient as a closed theatrical stage, not an open reality. (similarity 0.95)
• The Orient is a topos built from citations, not a place observed (similarity 0.95)
• The Orient is a constituted entity, not a real geographic essence (similarity 0.93)
• Orient and West are unstable human constructs, not fixed realities (similarity 0.92)
• Geographical entities like Orient and Occident are man-made ideas, not natural facts (similarity 0.91)
• Nerval and Flaubert’s Orient was pre-shaped by personal and aesthetic mythology, not direct encounter (similarity 0.90)
• Oriental representations become repetitive pseudoincarnations serving narcissistic Western needs. (similarity 0.86)
• The Orient studied by scholars is a political system of representations, not raw reality (similarity 0.86)
• The Orient as a topos derives from text and citation, not direct observation. (similarity 0.85)
• Orientalist representations operate for purposes within specific historical and economic settings (similarity 0.85)
• Knowledge of the Orient requires conceiving it as ruled by Europe (similarity 0.84)
• The Orient becomes a repeated pseudoincarnation of a Western original (similarity 0.84)
• The Orient cannot represent itself and needs the Western expert to testify. (similarity 0.84)
• Orientalist representation is a closed, self-reinforcing system immune to empirical data (similarity 0.84)
• The Orient is constituted as absence while the Orientalist constitutes himself as presence (similarity 0.84)

Broader Connections

• The Orient is a constituted entity, not a real geographic essence #corroborates (0.90) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 818
• Geographical entities like Orient and Occident are man-made ideas, not natural facts #corroborates (0.90) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 58
• Representation substitutes for the Orient because it cannot represent itself #expands (0.85)
• Written statements about the Orient are self-referential, not grounded in the Orient #expands (0.85)
• Knowledge of the Orient is constituted by the knower, not passively exists #expands (0.80)
• The Orient is constituted as absence while the Orientalist constitutes himself as presence #expands (0.80)