Is the division between the West and East Orientalist in nature?
Is the division between the West and East Orientalist in nature? Well, that is what Edward Said says in his Orientalism; that is what many writers in his wake say too. I beg to disagree. Let me make but three points. One: that there is an Indian culture and a western culture has been established in my book. (Of course, it is also an experiential given.) Consequently, I have just presumed this distinction here. Second: some distinction does not become Orientalist just because the Orientalist thinkers use the distinction. Thirdly: that there exist empirical distinctions of culture etc. is not denied by Edward Said but only that speaking about these distinctions leads to violence. A rather funny stance, to say the least.