Roddan, Hector
2016.
‘Orientalism is a partisan book’: applying Edward Said's insights to early modern travel writing.
History Compass
14
(4)
, pp. 168-188.
10.1111/hic3.12307
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Abstract
Since its publication in 1978, Edward Said's Orientalism has had a significant impact on postcolonial studies in a range of fields. This paper assesses his impact on the historiography of Anglophone travel writing concerning Ottoman Empire during the early modern period. Said's analysis of the relationship between representational power and colonial authority remains relevant to our understanding of early modern travel texts. Said's epistemology raises significant issues for historians of early modern intercultural encounters. This article summarises recent debates surrounding early modern travel narratives. It contrasts doctrinaire applications of Said's theory with more recent, particularistic studies. It provides a much-needed survey of travel writing historiography that considers the continuing impact of Said's postcolonial thought on the study of early modern travel narratives relating to the Ottoman Middle East. In so doing, it explores the lack of fit between early modern travel narratives and Said's methodology. I explore the methodological problems thrown up by conventional applications of Said's epistemology to precolonial travellers' texts. Based on a wide-ranging survey of Said's oeuvre, the article demonstrates that, more than 30 years on, Said's work remains relevant to the historiographical challenges presented by early modern English travel writing about Islam.
Item Type: | Article |
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Date Type: | Publication |
Status: | Published |
Schools: | History, Archaeology and Religion |
Subjects: | D History General and Old World > D History (General) D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DS Asia P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History |
Uncontrolled Keywords: | history, early modern, travel, Orientalism, Edward Said, travel writing, travel literature, 17th century, Islam, Ottoman Empire, England, France |
Publisher: | Wiley Blackwell |
ISSN: | 1478-0542 |
Funders: | AHRC |
Date of First Compliant Deposit: | 20 May 2016 |
Date of Acceptance: | 4 February 2016 |
Last Modified: | 05 May 2023 00:14 |
URI: | https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/89423 |
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