rod mclaughlinEnough (Edward) Said (13 dec 08)
Keith Windschuttle denies the genocide of the Tasmanian aborigines. However, I just read his 'The Killing of History' which argues for empirical narrative history against the postmodern notion that there is no difference between fact and fiction. Holocaust deniers like Windschuttle shouldn't be persecuted - they might have something useful to say. I tested this by simultaneously reading Edward Said's postmodernist philosophy of history 'Orientalism' and John Keay's 'India - a History'. Keay manages to undermine the colonialist narrative without succumbing to logistic relativism. For example, he compares Islam's bloody rule in India with British colonialism, showing that the latter was no worse. He explains how Britain stumbled from respect for Indian culture to chauvinism, led by Christians like Wilberforce, the opponent of slavery, showing the connection between liberal interventionism and colonialism - a marriage of ideas which is still with us. A historian needs a sense of humor - Keay's is as dry as the lick of an Arab's tongue - I hope that's not an Orientalist remark. Said's book-long whinge about the sin of 'Orientalism' is the opposite - he has as much of a sense of humour as you might expect from a leftist professor at an American university. Orientalism doesn't just mean racism - Said includes Christian sectarianism toward Islam - but not Islamic sectarianism toward Hindus - that wouldn't suit his purpose. Orientalism, he says, is characterized by its lack of discrimination - the whole 'Orient' has the same character for the occidental chavinist. He disapprovingly quotes British Victorian premier Disraeli to the effect that 'Arabs are simply Jews on horseback, and all are Orientals at heart'. If Western governments had that attitude today, they would be unable to take sides - you might think, as a Palestinian refugee, Said would welcome this rather than whining about it. The one silver lining is that reading Said saved me the trouble of reading his French postmodernist counterparts, who are bound to be worse. OMG!!?! - I discovered that a reactionary historian who has links with the notorious historical revisionist Keith Windschuttle, already called his article on Edward Said 'Enough Said': www.newcriterion.com/articles.cfm/enough-said-3743 Having links with someone who has links with someone who might have once known someone...oh - but it's OK. Windschuttle is only a revisionist of the genocide of the Australian aborigines. Thank God. I was really worried for a moment there. Back
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