Too much insider knowledge of Oriental politics kills the pilgrimage narrative
Evidence
The failure of Disraeli’s Tancred can easily be ascribed to its author’s perhaps over-developed knowledge of Oriental politics and the British Establishment’s network of interests; Tancred’s ingenuous desire to go to Jerusalem very soon mires Disraeli in ludicrously complex descriptions of how a Lebanese tribal chieftain tries to manage Druzes, Muslims, Jews, and Europeans to his political advantage. By the end of the novel Tancred’s Eastern quest has more or less disappeared because there is nothing in Disraeli’s material vision of Oriental realities to nourish the pilgrim’s somewhat capricious impulses. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 492
Categorization
- XREF: Effectively reverses the usual claim that the real Orient undermines the romantic-imperial fantasy — here real knowledge of politics, not ignorance, dissolves the pilgrim’s quest. — connects to: Nationalist leaders deliberately restage sacred-history narratives as political pilgrimage — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 409; Orientalist expertise erases politics, economics, and class from Oriental realities — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 300; Actual travel experience leaves Orientalist preconceptions entirely undisturbed — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 493
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 492
- yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Nationalist leaders deliberately restage sacred-history narratives as political pilgrimage — Charles Tilly, Regimes and Repertoires, 409; Orientalist expertise erases politics, economics, and class from Oriental realities — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 300; Actual travel experience leaves Orientalist preconceptions entirely undisturbed — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 493
Broader Connections
- Actual travel experience leaves Orientalist preconceptions entirely undisturbed
#complicates(0.71) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 493