Archaeology of History
Historical Construction of the Concepts and Images of the Other in Western Orientalist and Colonial Discourses
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The Archaeology of History
How the West Constructed the East
This thesis will examine the epistemological problematic of the mode of perception, understanding and representation of one culture by another. Its subject is, the way “Western” thought has historically understood and constructed the images of non-Western societies and civilizations. The essential starting-point is the definition of the problem. It is this task that defines the sort of method proposed in this study.
It is not possible, of course, to study Orientalism in a scientific manner without defining it as an integral part of a broader general production of Western thought and as an essential historical constituent of Western culture. Hence, the aim that this study sets for itself is to explore and explain the historical process in which Orientalist /colonialist discourse found the conditions of its genesis, continuity, discontinuity and mutations. This will be done by taking the concept of the power / knowledge relationship as a theoretical – historical framework within which the discussion and analyses of Oriental /colonial discourse will be conducted. This study is not concerned with the question of truth with regard to the knowledge produced by Oriental / colonial discourse. It does not try to produce a counter – knowledge in terms of providing empirical data or unravelling constellations of “facts” lying about in historical documents, or looking for terrae incognitae in terms of new information and fresh fields of knowledge.
Sufficient data and historical information concerning the way the West has throughout history come to terms with the Orient and other non – Western societies can be found in many historical sources, especially in the excellent works of Norman Daniel, R.W. Southern, Denis Hay, Donald Lach, J.H. Perry and Klauss E. Knorr.. etc.
* I totally agree with what Americo Castro wrote in an essay about Saladin: "We have reached the absurd situation where it is not the unknown that is a problem. How can one learn all that has been found out already about any bit of history? The terrae incognitae are not in the shadows of the past but in the libraries that tower around us. Wherefore my interest is looking for ways of understanding, rather than new or unpublished facts. It is high time we systematise bequeathed to us by our…predecessors.”*
Thus, the crucial point is ways of understanding, the mode of the production and construction of knowledge. Hence, we are dealing first of all with a question of method. For there are no facts without theories, and there are no discourses without the conditions of their possibility, without the context in which they were produced and continue to exist and function “historically” and ideologically.
It is our theoretical approach to Orientalist / colonialist discourse in the context of the power / knowledge relationships (a context which will be established as the archaeology of historical discourse) which defines the plan of this work.
It comprises three parts. Each part includes a general theoretical statement, a general historical outline and a more specific treatment (discourse analysis) of two or more texts substantiating the arguments preceding it, unfolding in particular, the intricate relationship between power and knowledge in the context of the social dialectics of the concerned society.
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"Combining a sophisticated Marxian approach with that sense of surprise empirical reading and practice can give, in almost 19th century fashion Rasul re-examines the images and concepts of “orientalism” from the Greeks onwards, demonstrating convincingly the building-up of habits of discursive practices in relation to “the other” at a very early stage of written culture. I think he reads Homer, Hesiod , Herodotus , Thucydides, Aeschlus, Xylophone and I Socrates Well – and he takes care not only to build up what are to be axiomatic structures of racism but also but also to dissent from them. He explores alternative possibilities and their role in then- current political and historical situations. He then takes his analysis (after looking at Virgil) in to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The texts are various: Marco Polo, St Augustine, and he looks at the Elizabethan He explores alternative possibilities and their role in then- current political and historical situations. He then takes his analysis (after looking at Virgil) in to the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The texts are various: Marco Polo, St Augustine, and he looks at the Elizabethan chroniclers such as R. Hakluyt. The thesis ends at the conclusion of the mercantile capitalist era by looking at Kinneir” Journals which stand on the threshold of 19th century imperialism."
About the Author
Dr. Kamal Rasul is a london-based Kurdish writer, poet and academic. He has obtained BA in English from Baghdad University, MA in philosophy and PhD in literature from University of Essex, UK and MSc in Economy and Political Science from London School of Economics. He has taught literature, philosophy and language, written extensively about the Middle East issues and worked as trainer and consultant in the area of civil society development.