Since the time of Homer every European, in what he could say about the Orient, was a racist, an imperialist, and almost totally ethnocentric.
Interpretation
The quote critiques the historical views of Europeans towards Eastern cultures, highlighting a pattern of racism and imperialism.
Edward Said's quote emphasizes the pervasive racism and ethnocentrism in European representations of the East, suggesting that since the time of Homer, Europeans have viewed and spoken about Eastern societies through a lens of superiority and otherness. This perspective has led to a distorted understanding of the Orient, reinforcing imperialistic ideologies and neglecting the complexities and realities of Eastern cultures.
In practice
During a lecture on post-colonial studies, one might reference this quote to discuss the lingering effects of colonial attitudes.
All knowledge that is about human society, and not about the natural world, is historical knowledge, and therefore rests upon judgment and interpretation. This is not to say that facts or data are nonexistent, but that facts get their importance from what is made of them in interpretation… for interpretations depend very much on who the interpreter is, who he or she is addressing, what his or her purpose is, at what historical moment the interpretation takes place.
Uninformed and yet open to appeals for justice as they are, Americans are capable of reacting as they did to the ANC campaign against apartheid, which finally changed the balance of forces inside South Africa.
Refuse to allow yourself to become a vegetable that simply absorbs information, pre-packaged, pre-ideologized , because no message.. is anything but an ideological package that has gone through a kind of processing.
Much as I have no wish to hurt anyone's feelings, my first obligation has not been to be nice but to be true to my perhaps peculiar memories, experiences and feelings.
It is quite common to hear high officials in Washington and elsewhere speak of changing the map of the Middle East, as if ancient societies and myriad peoples can be shaken up like so many peanuts in a jar.
Theory is taught so as to make the student believe that he or she can become a Marxist, a feminist, an Afrocentrist, or a deconstructionist with about the same effort and commitment required in choosing items from a menu.
Great men cultivate love...only little men cherish a spirit of hatred
A law is something which must have a moral basis, so that there is an inner compelling force for every citizen to obey.
Observation and thinking are the two points of departure for all the spiritual striving of man, insofar as he is conscious of such striving. The workings of common sense, as well as the most complicated scientific researches, rest on these two fundamental pillars of our spirit.
Freedom means you are unobstructed in living your life as you choose. Anything less is a form of slavery.
I realized it for the first time in my life: there is nothing but mystery in the world, how it hides behind the fabric of our poor, browbeat days, shining brightly, and we don't even know it.
Why do I live in the desert? Because the desert is the *locus Dei*.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.