At the outset of the 2015 BBC documentary Bitter Lake, Adam Curtis suggests that,
❝ We live in a world where nothing makes any sense and those in power tell stories to help us make sense of the complexity of reality, but those stories are increasingly unconvincing.
❞
The contention argued in Bitter Lake is that Western politicians have manufactured a simplified story about militant Islam into a “good” vs. “evil” argument. This argument, which is informed by and a reaction to Western society’s increasing chaos and disorder, is neither really understood by the governments and think-tanks that have manufactured it or the people (the citizenries) to which it is being peddled.
“I have a suspicion that the politicians’ revival of the old behaviourist ideas and techniques will be helped and reinforced by a powerful ally – the machines we have built. The computers.” — Adam Curtis”
1. Eric Hobsbawm
Hobsbawm focused on the rise of industrial capitalism, socialism and nationalism. His best-known work is his trilogy about what he called the “long 19th century” (The Age of Revolution: Europe 1789–1848, The Age of Capital: 1848–1875 and The Age of Empire: 1875–1914). Read on …
2. Edward Saïd
Saïd focused on the history and nature of Western attitudes towards the East, and contends that “orientalism” is a powerful European ideological creation that is the key source of the inaccuracy in cultural representations that form the foundations of Western thought and perception of the Eastern world {نحن نعيش ، نموت}. Read on …
Orientalism
Western Conceptions of the Orient
Edward W. Said
3. Horses for courses🐎
Proverb • British
— Different people are suited to different things.
4. Bidoonism ❱ Politics &c. ❱❱ History
According to me, “history’s basically histrionics… because, to attract attention, we inevitably state it melodramatically. Read on …
“Humanism is the only resistance we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.”
Read “Orientalism”
Read the full review (& download a PDF copy) here: Books ❱ Orientalism.
Edward Saïd’s seminal work, Orientalism, has, according to one academic, “redefined our understanding of colonialism and empire.” If you come across the term post-colonial studies whilst u r reading or delving off on an internet-based, whimsical knowledge building journey, soon enough you’ll encounter Saïd. In Orienrltalism, Saïd surveys the history and nature of Western attitudes towards the East, and contends that “orientalism” is a powerful European ideological creation – a way for writers, philosophers and Western political powers (alongside their think tanks) to deal with the ‘otherness’ of eastern culture, customs and beliefs. Drawing on his own experiences as an Arab Palestinian living in the West, Said examines how these ideas can be a reflection of European imperialism and racism. He traces this view through the writings of Homer, Flaubert, Disraeli and Kipling, whose imaginative depictions have greatly contributed to the West’s romantic and exotic picture of the Orient.
Paraphrasing from the book’s introduction, orientalism is the amplification of difference, the presumption of Western superiority, and, “the application of clichéd analytical models for perceiving the Oriental world,” from the perspectives of Western thinkers and scholars. According to Said, orientalism is the key source of the inaccuracy in cultural representations that form the foundations of Western thought and perception of the Eastern world {نحن نعيش ، نموت}. The theoretical framework that orientalism covers has three tenets:
(2)
— a worldview, representation, and canon / discourse which bases itself upon an, “ontological and epistemological distinction made between “the Orient” and the West;
(3)
— as a powerful political instrument of Western domination over Eastern countries {عاشت فلسطين}.
Orientalism
Western Conceptions of the Orient
Edward W. Said
Praise for the book
“Beautifully patterned and passionately argued.”
— New Statesman
“Very exciting … his case is not merely persuasive, but conclusive.”
— John Leonard, New York Times
Them ‘n’ Us
“who knows which is which and who is who”
— Dark Side of the Moon
It’s an ‘Us & Them’ thing (I’m one of the ‘them,’ dear reader). The West may objectify us…
Orientatalist art
But, they do themselves too: Le Sommeil (Sleep) by Gustave Courbet (1866). Jupiter in the Guise of Diana, and the Nymph Callisto, by François Boucher (1759).Et nous aussi nous serons meres; car……!, by Jean-Jacques Lequeu (1794).
p.s.
Epistemology
Epistemology is the branch of philosophy that focuses on ‘knowledge.’ It is the study of the nature of knowledge, justification, and the rationality of belief. It relates to the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope, and the distinction between justified belief and opinion.
Humanism [1] A rationalist outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. [2] A Renaissance cultural movement which turned away from medieval scholasticism and revived interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. [3] (among some contemporary writers) A system of thought criticised as being centred on the notion of the rational, autonomous self and ignoring the conditioned nature of the individual.
— From Latin “homo” – a person, “humanitas” – human nature.
Ontology [1] Ontology is the branch of philosophy that focuses on ‘the nature of being.’ It focuses on concepts that directly relate to being (in particular: becoming, existence and, reality.) [2] A way of showing the relations between the concepts and categories in a subject area or field of study.
Orientalism [1] Style, artefacts, or traits considered characteristic of the peoples and cultures of Asia. [2] The representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist attitude. [3] “Orientalism,” as defined by Edward Said, is “the Western attitude that views Eastern societies as exotic, primitive, and inferior. Basically, an Orientalist mindset centers the Western (European/American) world and views the Eastern world as ‘the Other.'”
Esoteric red herrings… now I’m in the fucking know.
— Anna Bidoonism
I will defend the importance of bedtime stories to my last gasp.
— J. K. Rowling
Did you know — I didn’t until I read it tonight — that reading for pleasure in one’s youth is a key factor in determining one’s future “social mobility” (success in later life). OECD Research shows the extent to which one reads for pleasure is the most important indicator of the future success of that individual [read on…]. I ask you, dear reader (Oh! James: Where art thou?), did you hear about/read:
Books = a way of escapeBooks 📚Books 📚The Penguin Book of Romantic PoetryConrad also wrote The Secret Sharer (oh Jay)From Russia + Vladimir Nabokov
p.s.
Ignorance is bliss
[proverb]
If one is unaware of an unpleasant fact or situation one cannot be troubled by it. — “I don’t want to hear about Trump’s latest tweets, ignorance, in this instance my dear friend, is bliss.”
Red herring
A clue or piece of information which is or is intended to be misleading or distracting. — “The writing of the Secret Sharer is convoluted and full of red herrings.” (Also: ‘a dried smoked herring fish that turns red due to the smoke in the drying process.’)
Delphic
Relating to the ancient Greek oracle at Delphi; to deliberately obscure something; to be or act ambiguously.
Esoteric
Intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialised knowledge or interest. — “She grew increasingly frustrated with the esoteric philosophical debates organised by Dr. Humaid.”
Recherché
Rare, exotic, or obscure. — “Some of the idioms he insisted on using were to recherché for most of the students in the Elizabethan era literature class.”
Anna Bidoonism 