The view from the other side: Reconsidering

   It may be true to say, if you have a radical point of view, try to avoid the academic crowd. They will try to  tear what you say to pieces and  refute it. If they fail to do so, then they will try to dilute it.

   It is now five years since the death of the Palestinian thinker and American academic critic Edward Said. It is also thirty years since he issued his pioneering, and eye opening, book "Orientalism". It may be the first time ever that the East found its voice to confront the West with its responsibilities, in terms, concepts, methods of analysis and references in line with  standards acceptable in the West.

   Before Said's "Orientalism", the debate concentrated on the treatment of Islam or Arab society in direct, polemic writings. It did not consider the testaments of travellers, novelist, poets, painters, colonial officers etc. Said changed this by considering the power relations that governed the western view of the East in a wide range of fields and interests.

   He also took the debate  further in his "Culture & Imperialism" where he argued that understanding the colonial literature, say the English novel of the 19th Century, cannot be done properly without a consideration of the situation that helped bring it about, i.e. the colonial experience itself.

   The last two years have witnessed a flood of books and articles which try to pre empt the force of Said's arguments, by trying to focus on certain details of history or accuse him of a harsh treatment of Orientalist scholars, etc. These critics are trying to by-pass the point Said is making but they are only strengthening it in a negative way.  Their very attempt to ignore the present power relations that govern  contacts between East and West, and their role in them,  goes to demonstrate Said's point of the acquiescence of these academic in this power game.

   The Tate Britain Gallery in London has staged a major exhibition under the title: "The Lure of the East: British Orientalist". It's an occasion to reflect on the testaments of these travellers to the Islamic East and to see how the stereo type of the East has been manufactured.

   This is also an invitation for those who saw the exhibition or experienced the east through travel to send us their feedback. Please write to:

 (post@islamictourism.com).

Your views and comments are most welcome.

Dr. Abdul-Rahim Hassan
Editor-in-Chief