Not Knowing the Oriental
Not Knowing the Oriental
This chapter discusses Orientalism and the importance of knowing the Oriental people. Edward Said's book, Orientalism, helped propagate an understanding of Western discourse about the East as a system of knowledge or power. Said also argued that through Orientalism, the West authors the East and becomes its authority. The chapter looks at the knowledge held by Rudyard Kipling's Strickland, who is an English police officer in India and a recurrent character in Kipling's stories. It also states that although knowing the Oriental was important in order to control the Orient, too much knowledge weakened the epistemological and political barrier that functioned to keep people, rulers and ruled, in their proper places.
Keywords: Orientalism, Oriental people, Edward Said, Western discourse, Orient, knowing, barrier, Strickland, Rudyard Kipling
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