reflections on exile - said, edward

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Exilc " vtrungely compcll ll lg IU rlunk about but terrible to C~·

pcncuce. 1115the unhculable rift lo rced between a human be ing

and a nnuve place, between the ,elf and It, t ru e h or ne : ItS essen-

li.lI <udncss can never be surmounted. And while il IS true thai

l i tc ruiurc and history contain heruic, rornam rc, g lor ious. even

tr iumphant cprsodcs in an exile", life, these arc no more than effor tsmeant 10 overcome the cr ipphng sorrow of esrrangcraenr , The

ncnicvcmcms of exile are perrnnnem ly underm ined bv the Inss of

s omelhing left behind for ever,

AU I if tr ue < Ki lc is a conuiucn of t er mi na l l oss , whv has I I b ee n

t ransformed '0 easily into u potent, even enr iching, rnor i! of modern

culture? W e have become accustomed 10 Ihlnking of the modern

period Il,e1f a s s pi ri tu al ly o rp han ed and alienated. th e 3!:C of 3n,i<I)'

und estrangeruent. NIC17.sche taught us 10 reel uncomfcnable "lIh

rraduion, and Freud 10 r cg ur d d or nc su c i ntimacy ' " Ihe polue face

painted on patr icidal and incestuous I ge, M odern W estern culture I<

in large purt the work o f e xi le s, emigres. refugees, In th e U ni ted

S I . . ICS, a cu dc rn ic , m te ll cc tu nl and aestheuc thought "" 11"111 -s tndaj

because of refugees from luscum , comm unism and other regimes

g iven 10 Ihe opprcssr cn and expul sion ofdi" id<nl s, The ernie George

S tei ner h a~ ev en p rn po scd Ihe pcrccpuve thesis thai a whole genre of

twcnucth-ccntury Western l i t e r u t u r c is . 'extruterntorial'. a luernture

by and ubuut exiles, symbohzing the "go of the refugee. Thus S teiner

~uggC::'lS

11 'tern. proper rha: t hose \\ ho create a rt in a ci vil iza ti on of

quavi-bar bur ism , which has made so many homeless,

should themselves be ports unhoused and wanderers

:1(1'1'" language. Eccentric, aloof. nostalerc, deliberately

u nt un cl v . ..

In other ages. exiles h ad sm ular cr oss-cu uu ml an d tr un sn au on al

\ I""n'. suffered Ihe sarnc r""lr"IIlll1S and rrnscncs, performed the

' li l li e e luc idat ing . " ' u (I itic.1I1,,,k, hnlharulv ulfi rtncd.Ior m-rancc.

in f II . Carr \ clawic 'ILlth o r 1 1 1 , ' ruue tccnth-ccnturv RII'''~11mtel-l cc t u. i l» c lu s te r ed ~fllllnd' l lc r z cn , 1 7,,· Romat ll lr Fxi le« Bllt th e

< I i i lc rc nc c b et we en c ur he I , · , i l e , ,11111 Ill",. ul 11m (11m rune I '. II beur«

~llr"I.,In,b! • . . , (a lL"· u u r ;l!!L~ w u h I i ' " mOdl'll1 w a r tare, l I up l ." ' fI :l h " 'm a n d

t hc «lIa'l-lh""I");ll'lll ; 1 1 1 1 1 1 , 1 ; , " 1 ' n tt ru .r ln .n r. m r ule r I' i nd ee d t he

;!gl' rd ilH: rclugcc , LII I . : : :h"'p!;u ,xd pl,:r~pn. ma,,~Imml~Ih'\llm.



Agains] this large, r r np cr so na t s el li ng , exile cannot be made In

e rv e n ou on s of h um an ism . O n t he t wen ti ct h-ce nt ur v scale, cxrle IS

nei ther aest hencally nor hum anist ically com prehensi ble: at m o« t he

li terature about exile object i f ies an anguish and a predicament most

people rarely experience at f i rst hand, but 10 Ihink of t he ex ile

i nf or mi ng Ih is li te ra tu re as b cn ef icr ally h um ar usu c 1510 bunnlizc us

muulanons. the losse, It mflicts on those w ho sutler them, th e

muteness w it h w hi ch il responds 10 any uncmpt to urnlcrst aml !l as

'gouu fllr us', Is It nor true th.u the view, of e xi le i n l it er at ur e :111<1,

m or eo ve r, i n r eli gi on u bsc ur c what l!i I ru l) h or r en do us : Ih;ll cv ilc i s

I rr em ed ia bly s ec ula r and u nbe ar ab ly h ist on cu l; t ha t i! i s p roduced by

human beings for D iller human beings. and that , li ke dcnrh bur

without death's ulnrnute mercy, It has torn millions o f p eo pl e lrom

the nourishmem of tradition, fannly and geography?

b rl l\ e m Jewish and Arab WI iterv, even as he espoused the cause of

N asscnsrn and A rab nauonalism. In l ime, he could no longer endure

Ihe pressure, and he lef] fur New York, He marr ied a Jewish woman,

and began \\ o rking in the P I.O o ff ice at the U nited Nations. but

r egular ly out raged hi s super iors w ith unconvent ional ideas and

utopian rheroric. In 1972he left for the Arab world, but a few months

later he w as back in the U nited S Lates: he had fell O UI o f p lac e i n S yr ia

:lIIU Lebanon. unhappy in Cairo, New York sheltered him anew, bU I

so did endless bouts 01 unnking and Idleness. H i s life II~S in r ui ns , b ut

he remained the most hospi table of m en. lie died alter a night of

h cu vy d ri nk i ng when, sm oking in bed, hi s cigaret te started a f i re lhat

spread [0a sma ll l ib r ar y of audio casseues, consisung mostly of poets

icading iheir verse, Th e f um es f ro m the tapes asphyxia led him. HIS

body was repatriated fo r burial InMusrnus, the small, i llage I n I s ra e l

where h i~ f am i ly still resided.

These and so man)' other exiled poets and writers lend dignil~ 10

,1 c on di t io n l eg is la te d to dcn~ dignity-e-tc deny an ident i ty to people.

lr rnn them i[ I' apparent [hal, 10 concentrat e on exile a a

contcmpornrj [1011Iica[ punishment. yo u must therefore map

tcr III"rlC~ of experience beyond those mapped by the luerature ofcvi lc nvelf . Yo u must t l r,1 lei aside Joyce and Nabokov and think

111'1end of the u nc uu ut ub le 1 1I a" e~ fur 1\ hom U N agcncic have been

cr c .ucd. You must t lunk 01 the refugee-peasants \\ t t h nu prospect of

ever rcun rung home, armed [mil' wuh a rat i on card ~nd an agene!

num ber. Pari s m ay be a capi tal f am ous (or cosm upoluan e xi le s. b U I It

[ ' al'\I n cuv 1\ h er e u nk no wn men and women have spent years of

nuscrablc ":Ilclli!~'s: viemamcse, Algerians, Cambodians, Lebancs ,

S~ll<'~"k,c, I'crtllians, Yo u must thmk also ()I Cairo, Beirut,

lau~lgasc:tr. Bannkok.Xlcxrco City. A~you move f ur th er Ir or n the

, \ 1 1 ;111;c wm ld, Ih~ uwlul [urlorn \1 asrc m crc ase s: t he h op eles sly lar ge

numbers, the compounded i11I<CI')' of 'undocumented' people

suddculv 1"'1, II uhuut a Idlahlc hISIUI~ . To reflect on exiled Muslim

fllllll ln dr u, o r I l1 1i l1 il1 1~ I!! Al1m t ea, or Blkinl:lI1' in Oceania, or

l'Ull',llll!ilI1' lhrnughilllt Ih ~ A r ub \ICHid means that you must leave

IIIC 111lcie' I rclugc provided b~ ,ubil'C!l\'II\' am i fe,,'11 i nst ea d 1 0 t he

,II"II.lltl<111' III Ilia,s pului c- NegoIIJli{ lIl" wur-, 01 national

Ithel inil ln, people bund[ed nut ufIhci r home' am) prodded, bu ed or

\I t lknll<1CIIC!a,C' in othc: Il'~I"II"wlluldl)~lw,cc\P<TICllCC addup

111' A IC Illn not !lI llIIiL",1I,' und ,11111, ,' 1\ " desigll irrecoverable

To see ,I poet m c~ ile-a5 opposed 10 reading the poetry of exile

-I' to sec C\lte" anunornics embodrcd and endured \\lth il

unique intensuy Several ye a rsago Ispcrn some I I I I ll" \1 uh F~II

Ahmad Fail, Ih . . . .g re at est o f contcmporury Urdu poet', Ill" I I a s c\lled

from Ill!> nuuve Pak."lan by L,a', militury rcgune, and Jouud awelcome (If sorts in strilc-torn Beirut. Naturul!v 111,doseS! lr icnd-

"ere J'alcsunian, bU I I ~CII'CU lh :1 r . ~ It hlll ig h t he l c \1'IS u u . 11 "1lilt) "f

'PlTiI betw een them , nutlung quue matched language, r(JcII~

conven JOIl, or hlc-htstory. Only once, when l.qhul Ahmud. U

Pub rani fr rcnd and 3 f cll ow -c vi le , c am e 10 Hcirut, did hll sccrn tu

overcom e hi sense of constant cSlr,[ng('lllcl1! The three "r I"s.u In .1

dmgl Beirut restaurant laiC one n ig ht , w hi le 1',117 rccucd poems,

Af te r II l ime, he arul Eqbal Slopped t r an~ laling hrs vcrve-. ,",>I Ill~

benef it . but 3S th e nl!;hl wore fill II did nO I m,Hler W hat I w atched

rcqurrcd no tranvlauon- it II:1S u u e na ct me nt II I a 11Ill11CUII11111g

expre ed ihrough defiance an d loss, ii, [lI)S.IV, '/1:1 we an: here,' O[

course Z ia ....a the om: who "<IS le"lh at home and whu would 1101

hear thei r exultant \ ""C~, 'R asln d l l ussci n \\,:IS il 1' i11c~IIIIIUII, I Ie I ranslntcd Ill:d lk , ni le I ll'

th e great modern I khrc\\ roell, 111111A r.rhic :111.1 11 lI"CIIl"

loqu nee c tabl ivhc 1 1 11m in IIt~ p "" ·I ') o. IK p cr i ud il'all 11f,1I"1 ,111<1

I nali t w ith ou t p eer lie t t r ~1 \l'PI ke d a~ II Hebrew 1.111t!1l;[t!'·

urnah I in Tel A\J\ :111<1succeeded II I c,I.II>li hill)! ,I til,d"gllC



.~, .j~ll .~I • " I ~, • r

We come to n:lIion,dI5n1 and it, c.,wntlal <I'5""'l:Itll)11 "lib

exile. Nali nalism is an as-cruon 01 belongmg In am i III d

place , a people . a heritage It alfirrns the home created h}

a comrnunuy of language, culture and customs: and. by ", dumg. II

lends otf evrle, fight, to prevent us ravages. Indeed, the interplav

betwe n nmionahsrn and exile i~ike Hegel's dialectic 01 servant ami

master, oppos.tcs informing and constuuung each other, All

nanonahsms In their carlv stages develop from II condiuon of

cstrangcrncm. The struggles 10 win American independence, 10 unifyGermany or I(31), to liberate Algeria were those of naiionat group,

"epJra[cJ-e~llrd from II hat was construed to be Ihcirrighllulway

of life, Tnumpharn , achieved nationalism [hen just ifics,

rerrospecuvely as 1\('11 3~ prospectively, a history selectively strung

lo!,clher In a narrative lorm: thus all nationahsrns have their

fuu'1dlllg Iarhers, their bavic, quasi-rchgious texts, their rhetoric 01

bclongmg, [heir hivtoncal and geographrcal landmarks, their [)rfi~ral

encrmes and heroes. 1111, collccuve ethos forms what Pierre

Bourdieu, 10(' French sociologist. calls [he habitus. [he coherent

arnalearn of practices [inking habit wuh inhabitance. In tune.

Success. ul nallonalisms consrgn truth exclusively to themselves and

relegate falsehood and inferiority to outsiders (as in the rhctoru, ofcapuahst ,·er5U5 communist, or the l-uropean versus the A siauc).

And just beyond the fronlier between 'us' and the 'outsiders IS

the penlous territory of not-belonging: thrs IS to where in a pnrni iive

lime peoples were banished. and where III [he modern ern immense

aggregates of humanity leiter as refugees and displaced persons.

auonalrsms are about groups, but in a very acute senvc exile 1\ a

oluude experienced outside the group; th e dcprivaunns fell m not

bein: \IJlh others in the communal habitauon. I l ow, [lien, docs "lie

urrno mt the lonelmes« 01 exile without Inllmg 111[(1 the

cncornpa srng and thumping language of national pride. collective

sentiments. j:!roup passion-, ~ What i\ there worth sa \ ing and holdmg

C111 to OCtIH'Ui the extr crncv of exile (In the om: hand, and I he oftcilhJo(J(h-nllndcd iJfflflTliitinns of nauuu.rhsm on [he OIlier '! Un

n ;J1 10 I1 ah~ m a nd c Xlle ha ve 'Illy ir n rinvrc .. tu ibutcs? A rc [1iL'Y '11111'11'

1\\11 tllr r 1((lllg \anclll'~ n] p,lIallflw'J

I ftc c arc qllCqll"l~ thnr cnnnut iver he tully <l11.,II·net! hCl':III'>L'

c: ell ,I urnc th,l[ nile a nd n auo na h III \.:111 be ui\uI\'L'd IWIIII 'llly.

\\ i thuut rcfcrcncc In each other. The~ cannot be. Because both term'

include C'CI ything from th e most collccuve of collecnvc sentirnerus III

the 11105t private of private emotions, there IS hardly language

adequ.ue Ior both But there I'certainly nothing about nationalism's

public ami al l- inclusive ambit ions that touches the core of the exile' s

prcdicarncnt.

Because cxrlc, unlike nauonalisrn, IS fundamentally .1

discnntmuous suuc of being. rxilcs are cut off from their r 00[5, rhcir

land, their p:1\I, They generally do not have arrmcs or states, although

Ihn arc often in search of them, Exi les feci . Ihcrcforc, an urgent need

10 'rccOnSlltUle their broken lives, usually by choosing 10 sec

litclI1,dl'c, as pan of a iriurnphnnt ideology or a restored people. The

crucial Lhlll!! I' that a state of exile free [rom tlus triumphant

Idcolp[!v- dcsianed to reassemble an exi le ', b roken hi,lOry into a

nell \:I~l1lc ,,: virtunlly unbcurablc. and vinually impovsrble In

loday', \' or ld, Look at the fate of the Jews. the Palestinians and the

A rmenian -.

N

Oll1mr is a solirarv Armenian. and a fncnd. HI~ parents had

10 leave Eastern 'Turke~ in 1915, aftrr their t.nnilies "ere

l11:tS,:1(1 cd: 11i~ maternal grandluther was beheaded. Noubarsmother and fruhcr went to Aleppo, rhcn 10 Cairo, In [he middle-

"xtIC', hlc in I-gypt ncca me difficult for ncn-Egypriaus. and hi,

r; lrcnt~, ,110ng wuh four children. II'c,rc taken to Bcuut by an

Il1tC[I1;IIIIIn:11 relief nrganisation. In Beirut, Ihey lived bflctl~ in a

jlc'll""n ami then were bundled into 1\\0 rOl1111 (If a lil lie house

ouividc ihc cuv In Lebanon, thcy had no moncx and Ih,'\ ":I1ICU:

ciulu J1ltlllt 11\ la ter, a rel ief agcncv got them :lnight 10 Glavgow. And

11;':11 ttl (;:l\1dcl ,\11.1 then h, New York. They rude b v G r ey ho un d

1'11< 1")111 Nell York 10 S,';1I1 lc: Seattle \Iii' the Clt\ lk,lgnalcd b\ thed'S I 'J'agcll(y ItH their American rcvidcncc, \\ hen I a'kc',' xcaruc ,

Nouhar '1II1!Ctl IC'I(!I1Cllly. a~ If to ,a), bcucr Scaulc than

A rmcni« wluch he never ~IICI\, tIT Tuikev where '" rnanv ,~crc

slauuhtcr cil. nr Leba non \1 here he ;lflll hIS f aruilv \I('ult! ,cltalOl~

11;(\,' mkcd t heir Iii.:" l vi te " M'IIICli!1lc' bcucr Ih.1I1",1\ III!!bclund

"1 11111 gel ling 11111 hut (Inly , tlI1l1, timc<, .

Ik.-.1II,t' rr",IIIII~ I' 'e~l1t~ I'"I,' I.. a !CII"II' SI,II,' \\ hat 'OU

, ldIICI~ l ' I 'feCI'cI \' wluu IOU hal l' no 1\I'h to vh.u c. .111<111" III the

I,:! 163



SIIIc!J me wuh your eyes,

T"I..< me .1 ' a rchc from the mansion of sorrow,

I ake me a a verse lrorn m) tragedy;

'I,,~c me .1\ ., (0), , brick from t he hou : C

So Ihal our children \\ III remember 10 return,

Thr palh", of exile I~in the I '5 of contact \ \uh the scliduy and

rhe sausfacuun of canh: hornccorrung I S o U I of the ques tion

III.'

Joscpl: Conrad's talc 'Am) losrcr" is pethnps the most uncom-

prOlll i 'H1~ icpicscutution "r c ~ ,h : e ve r w r r tt en Conrad thoughl

01 himself as an exile lrom Pulund, and nearly all h is wa r (a s

\Ivll '" hIS life) cai ues the uumwtak .. hle mark of the scnsinve emigre's

ohsc"'on with 11" own r~IC and wuh his hopeless aucrnpt 10 ma e

, a ll ,f ) ,l I1g con ta c t \Iuh new surroundmgs ' Am ) Foster' I S o n a s en

co "fined [0 the problems of c: lie, perhaps so confined that II IS not

nne "I Corn ad's best-know n stones. ThIS, f r example, IS lhe

dcscnpuon of the a g<l11)' of II' ccntrul character. Yanko Gooral an

1''''lel n 1:011opean peasant \\110, en route 10 Amenca, IS shipwrecked

nl f th e Bntl~h <:0"":

II I' indeed har d u pon it mall 10 find hrrnsclf a 10 I rranger

h el pl e- ,s . i nc om prchcnsi b lc , a nduf 3m~'tcTloU'

origin.In

,,'me ouscurc corner uf the earth Yet amongst all the

adventurers ,hipwrclkcd \11 all the 'lllJ pan, of the world,

there " not ni le . II 'eem, ttl rnc.that ever had III suffer 3 fale

'0 >JInpl) lr ~g il: as th e ma n I .1111speaking ur. t he mo I

mnoccnt o r adventurer- <."1 out bv the -ca,

Y anko h~ , lef t hom e bccau-e the 'p re> 'urc"S w ere 100g~al f r

lum to go ou bvmg rhctc A rneuc: III1C,h il11\\lIhll<p"ml e.th u

lngl.uul I'where he cud- up.] [cendures onI ngland, \\ here! e an

' peak rhc languapc und " feared .111,1rusundcr-t od Onl

1''''ltT. ;0 plll{ldlll~, unuuracuvc pea' ant !;lrI. tries I ommun\\llhhill1.1hc\ 1ll.l!n.h:1\,·adllIJ,huI\\hl'n'an o Ial II

"Ir:ml .uul .dIC·llillc'''.'''·r."c·, 10 nurse 111m.'ll.Il hmgIh I

k;n ", Ih l' dC'c 'llI"" Ila 'le", , nnku's 11 1serable death, wtm;IlIIil.l'~1fIi

~k,lll" "I ,~,'"",I ('11111;0<11.111 1ll'11'~' l' depicted

l'''"lb1l1.111'''' <11 c'w,hlll!; 1",1.111"11 3nJ the

\ ,Ink,,', I"IC l' dl''' nhcd ." '[he' supreme dl a

lk"'p;llr~

f.uc



~'\II ~~_; . :,;/"" J" .' "",' ", .. ' -,

Yanko's nrcdicamcm is ~flect ing: ;1 foreigner pcrpclllally

hauntel l anti alone In an uncolTIprehcndlng society Bu t Conrads

own cxrlc caU'C5 hrrn to exaggeratc the dlffercnccs between Yanko

.uul vrnv Yanko ISda~hlll£" light and bnght-evcd, whereas A Ill) "

h l " 1 \ v, dull, bov inc: when he dies, 1 1 ISas if her earlier k m d n c s- , to 1 1 1 1 1 1

\\;b a -narc to lure and [hen trap hirn fatally, Yanko's death IS

romantic: th e world IScoarse , unupprcciarive; no nne understand,

him, not c' en Am)', the one person dose to him, Conrad louk this

neurotic exile's Icar and created all acsthcuc principle out of it, Noone can u nderstand or cornmumcu le in Conrad's world, but

paradoxically this rad ical hnutat iou on the possibil it ies of language

doesn't inhibn elaborate efforts tv comrnunicate. All of Conrnd's

..tones ar e about lonely people who talk 11great deal (for indeed w ilo

(11 [ ill' g re at modernists was more voluble and 'adjectival' than

Conrad himself!) and whose auempts to impress others compound.

rather than reduce, the ortgrnal sense of isolar ion. Lach Conrndian

eu le fears, and IS condemned endlessly 10 imagmc,lhe spectacle of a

soli tary death i lluminated, so 10 speak, by unresponsive, LJI1COmntll-rucat ing c, es .

Fxites look at non-exiles \\ ith rescntrnern. Tile), belong in their

surroundmgs. you feel, whereas an exile i s a lways out o f p la ce , Whatj, it li~e [0 be born in a place, to stay and JI\'C there, to knoll' that you

arc of it, more or less for ever?

p rO ~L rlJ 1!1 0n S, Fmi gr cs e nj oy an ambiguous statu .. 1 echnically, an

el11lgl" i~ unvonc who cmrgrat cs to a I'~\\' coumrv. Choice In the

matter is cct uunly a posstbility. Colonial officials. rmssronarrcs.

tcchrucal experts, mercenaries and military advisers on loan may In a

~en'e live In exile, bUI they have not been banished . While veulcrs In

A r nca, pnll' of A sia and Australia may once have been e xi le s, b ut as

pioneers and nation-builders the label 'exile' dropped away from

them,

Much of the exile' lIfe is taken up \\ ith ccmpensaung fL'rdi ,ori cllt ing loss by creat ing a new world to rule, It ISnot surprismg

ih.u so many exiles seem to be novcfists chess players, poluicat

uci ivists, and intellectuals, Each of these occupations requires a

m in im al i nv est me nt In objects and places a great prcrruurn on

mobility and skill. The cxrlc's new wor ld , lo gi ca lly enough, is

unnatural and its unreali ty resem bles f ict ion, G eorg Lukacs. in

7/ rCOlI ' (I f the Novel, argued with compelling force that the novel, a

litcrurv form created ou t of the unrcaluy of arnbuion and fantasy. is

tlu: form of ' transcendental homelcssncss'. Classical epics , Lukacs

w rote, cm unat c from souled cultures In which values are clear,

i de nt it ie s v tu bl e, hfc unchanging, The European novel is grounded in

[lr cl:i ,d} t i le opposi te exper ience. t hat of a ch~ ngll,g society In \\ hichan iuncrnnt ami divinhcrued rm ddlc-class her o or heroine seeks to

CUII,tru(( a new world Ihat somewhat resembles an old one left

behind [nr ever, 1 1 1 t he epic t here ISnOlllll l'r world, ani} the linality of

11111OIlC, O<l''' 'CII5 returns III It haca after ~cars of wandering: Achille,

11"1 11 ie b ecau se he cannot escape Ius fare. The novel, however. CXl,IS

hccau-,e other worlds mav CXtS[, alicrnauvcs for bourgeoi ..

vpccul.uurx \\ undcrcrs, exiles. ,

]':0 m.urer how well ihcv mav do, niles arc alway« eccentrics

\\ho 1I'I,{tll l: lr ditlcrcnce (cI'e~ as t i lcy Ircqucmly cvplor; it ) as a kind

(If l'1hanhuod. Anyone IIho I' really hnmclc-s regards the habu of

seeing cst rungcrncnt in cverv thillg modern as an attcctauon. a display

01 mudr-h auitudes Clutching dil fcrcnce l ike a wcapnn [I' be used\\ Itll sulfencd I IIII. the exile j ea lo us ly i ns is ts on hi, or her nght to

refuve III belling,

"I hIS 11..uullv Ilallslate, into an mttansrgcncc th,ll I' filii ca'ih

1l!11UII't.!, Wilfulncs», c \ag gc ra llllL l, n\ c rs tnr er ne ru: these ar c

\:'11,,,a"I:II,(I~[yks III being an exile, methods lor compelling the

Athough il is true thrn a ny on e p re ve nt ed from returniug horne

is an nile, some distinctions can be Illude between eXile"

refugees, expatriates aod emIgres, Exile originated In till: age-

old pracuce of banishment . Once banished, the nile II\e, an

.rnomalou-, and rmserablc life, with the stigma of being an outsider.

Rcluucev, nn the other hand, are a creation of the twcutictb-rcmurv

stare llle word 'refugee' has become a pohucal aile, suggcxung l"lg~

herd (I mnoccnt and bell i ldcrcd people requi ri ng ur gcnt

m r cr na uo na l a ss ur an ce , whereas 'C,\Ik" carries with It. r think, rI

touch of ,,,Illude and Sp" ituality.

r xpntrratcs " ,lu rLWT llv li ve III an alien cnunt ry, usunllv ro rper'"n,11 nr ~oC'.r rCaVIII\, Ilcl1llllgwal' and ht7gcr;dd were flO!

fOHl'l11O hve in I ranee J:'IXIIII.llcs may share III the solitude and

cstrnngcmcrn of c lie, but Ihe) dll lIot ,ul lcr under 11\ ,,!!id

1M



He! ICLlII>I1' nil I " I<.:

,,,)flu to accept your ,isJOn. IIluch you make more unocccpt:1ble

bc<~lI<c"Oil arc In fact ullwlllIng to 11mCIt accepted. It isyours, after

,,/I Composure and serenity arc the last things associated with the

\\01 k (If evrlc«. Ar tists in exile are decidedly unpleasant. and their

s tubbornnesv insinuates i tsel f uuo c\ en their exal ted works, Dante's

\ I IOn In The Divtne Comedy is tremendously powerful in lIS

unrvcr sa lny and detail, but even the beatific peace achieved in the

"aradl\u bears traces of the vindicU\'Cllc" alltl severity of judgcmcn:

embodied in the "VUl lO, Willi bill an exile like 1):lnle,lJalli,hcd 11'0111

I lurcnce, would U'C eternity as a place Jor setll ing old scores'!

Jdme~ If): cc chose 10 he III exile: IrJ give force If) his arustic

\fiC<ltl'ln In an uncannily effecuve "a~ -as Richard EHmann has

<~ ""l 10 hi' blogr2phy-Joyce picked a quarrel \\ il h Ireland and

L .rt It aln ~ so 3.5 to sustain the strictes; opposition to IIhal was

{amll at E"mann <;ay" that '\\ hcnevcr hl~ relat ions wi th 1m nauv e

'30d were Indanger of rrnproi ing, [Joyce] was 10 find a new Incident

10 "ol,dlf} h S Intransigence and to reaffirm the rightness of his

\ oluntarv absence.' Joyce's fiction concerns what in a letter he alice

de cribcd as the state ofbeing 'alone and friendless' And although II

IS rare to pick banishment as a IIay of life, Joyce perfectly understoodIts trra 5

But Joyce's success ::IS an exile stresses the question lodget.! at

Its \'er~ heart: is exile so extreme and private that any mstru-

rnernal usc of rt is ult irnatc ly a !ri, i nli za ri on ? I I ow is i t' that tile

lrtcrature of exile has taken its place as a /oposofhuman experrcnce

al"ng.sl(lc ihc literature o r a dve nt ur e. c du ca uo n or discovcrv? I s { 11 I~

the IQII/ce,\;lc that quite I it er ;i ll y k il ls Yanko Gooral l and l l; ls 'brcd the

c pcnsu • uncll dehumanizing rclauonvhip between twcnucth-

ccuiur exrle and nauonalism? Or is it some more berugn variety?

Much of rhc contemporary Interest in cxrlc Gill he traced tn the

orncwh Ira'lld notion that non-exiles call share in the bcnctus (I(

c\ll(' 1 1 a rcdctnnt ivc mot if . 'I here I~ . adllliltcdly, it certain plau ..ihlllll'and truth III Ihs idea. Like medieval 1 1 1 1 1 < . 1 , 1 1 1 1 scholars or kalltc; '

G reek ~ Ia\e~ In th e Roman l.mprr e, c~dt" the cxceptionul "Ill"

,Im"tl~ Ihem do leaven Illeil CIIVIHllll11l'/lh, Ami naturally \IC'

concentrate on thnr cnlightclllflg aspect "f 'their' presence among 11'0,

1101 on Ihelr JIII~cr) or their dCl l1afll l~. IItJ lloohd at rrom the blcuk

1 6 1 !

pohucal perspective of modern m:I~"drslocations. individual exrlcs

[urce us to rccognr/e the tragic fate of uomclessness in a occessanly

hC;]rllc,~ world.

A gcnerauon ago, Simone Well posed the dilemma of exile as

concisely as it has ever been expressed. 'To be rooted,' he said, 'IS

perhaps the mO,1 impouant and least recogrnzed need of rh c h,uma~

'0111. 'Yet Wcil al -,o saw that most remedies for uprootedness rn this

cr u 1,1wllrld W:If" d cp or uu io us a mi l11:h, cxrcrruinntuu» a re : lln "' ,1

:1< d:III!!.I'1PII~

a, wluu they PIIl'pl lr l~"ly remedy, or me-c. the,talc or, m ore accurnr clv. s.l:ltl,m,- is l'I1C of the Illl"l in,idl<)llS,

sum: worslup of the suuc 'lend, In supplant nlll,ther human bonds.

WCII exposes us anew to lh:ll whole complex of pt C<'SlIrl'S and

constraints that he at the centre of the exile's predicament. which, as I

have suggested, i~as close as we come in the modern era to tragedy,

There I~ the xhccr Iact uf iso lat ion and displacement , \\ hich produces

ihe kurd of narcissistic masochism that resists all efforts at

arnehorarion, nccul rurat ion and cornmunity. AI ihis e : t remc the exi le

can make a fetish of exile, a practice that distances him or her from all

connccnons and commitments, To live as if everyth ing aruund you

were temporary ant i perhaps tr ivia l is to fall prey to petulant cymcisrn

<I'

well asto

querulous lovelessness. More common isthe pressure onthe exile to tom parties, nat ional movements, the stale, The exile IS

offered a new set of nffiliarions and develops new lcyalues. But there

is <lISI) a It)~, of cnucal perspective, of irucllccuml rcscrv e, of moral

couruuc,

I; 1111l't also be recognized that the defensive narionalism of

CXIIe, often rosters sel f-awareness as much as 1\ does the lcs auruciive

fOII11' "f scll-avscruon. Such rccnnstiturivc projects as assembling a

n.u ron out "I' cvilc (and this I' true in this ccnturv r" f . Ie\ \" and

1 '; 11 .: '1 11 11 :1 11 ') 1 I1 \0 1\ 'c c on st ru ct in g a nauonal historv. 1e\I'tIl!!- an

;1I1el('111 language. f ounding na uoual tn'lIlU;"OI1S li ke hbr ,lt Ic ~, a nd

uuiv ci vu ic« A nd tl1 c -c. while they somcnmcs promote strident

ct hnuccn: 11'111, :11~CIi\~ tlW to 111\ csugations of sel l lh, \! IlIC, . tablygil lal be' tim! xuch ~ill1plc and pO~lll\'C lucts as, 'cihnicitv'. l-or

1'~;l111pk', Ihere i~ he ~cl\~OI1~ri{JlISll(~' o r ;H1 uulivuiunl In mg 10

uiulc: 'I arul 1111\ the 111,1 II Ie, Ill' the Palest miam and Ihe Jell' have

1:<'11:1111 p:lliel 11' Il' them, \1hy ill spite of upp:c"mll and 111,' threat 01

cvuuvuun a P:ll1l"ll>lr l'll1os rcm uins alive III exile.

16 9



~":Lc,'.mh. ihen, I 'pC,I". 01 evilc no t h a IJII\'II::-I -L . . c , ; ~ I ! . , 1Ul d\ all

,tIf, mauve It' I IlL' mass instuuuon th.1l dommntc nunlcr-nlire. I \de"

",H, alter .dl. iI rn a II cr nf dHII(;C' \'011 arc born Into u.or u !.... , L I, r i laPPCIl'i(O

vuu. Bur.provided that Lhcl"\tleretlhcstlJSIlOlltl d I _ .• ~ .. lC :S1 CH1C!' inur~m~

,Iwound, there are thll1gs III be learned: he or ~he must clI ltn :tlc;

scr upulo us (nut Indulgent o r su lk y) subJectl\lty.

Perhaps the most rigorous cxumple or such subjectivity LS to be

tound ill the \1n~I1,]g01 Thcudor Adorno, the Germall.Je\1 ],It

phdll~llphcr andC~lt]c:.

Adn r no'sma~ICr\\OI

k, M mitna " [o) alia,i~

111illlt"bmgr;]rh~' \~nncn while ill exile: it IS su burled Reflc« i"'lCIl WH

"CIII beJC/ujr/Jgl<:n Leben (RC:j7r:Cliolls from a . '1I11i lalcd Uk).

Ruthlesslv opposed to \\ h at he culled the 'administered' world

Adorno saw all l ife as pressed Into ready-made [orms, prcfabnc.ucd

'homes ', I lc argued that c vc ry uu ng t ha t on e says or thinks, as well a~

every ubJelt o ne P OS ~C S., cs . i~ UIIIIll:Llciy a mere commoduv.

I anClI.It:C I, prgon. nhjCcts ;11e for snlc .. , 0 I cfuse this statl' 01 all'";-~

I the c\l lc ', mtcl lcc tual mission

Adorno's reflections are informed by the belief that the onlv

horne truly available now, though fragile ami vulncrabic, LS I ; )\',r!ting. Elsewhere. 'the home IS past, The bombings 01 lurupcan

cuicv, a,I'

ell as the labour and concent rat ion camps, merely precedeas cvcrutors, ,,'ith IIhat the immanent development of iechnolouv

had long decided was 10 be t11~fate of houses. The- e ar c now gO:J~1

onl~ to be thrown away hkc old flWd cans.' In short, \doll1o-,;I\',

\\Ilh a grave irony, 'II is part of moraluv IIOt to be .u horne in Dlll''shome.' .

To fuLml Adorno is to stand [I\\:J~ Irom 'homcm ordcr to I,,"~

at II wuh I l i e cv rl c 's detachment . For there IS consnlcrablc mcru in the

pract ice .. I n« Ling th e discrepancies b et we en v ar io us (OIlCCPh ,lIJd

Idca' and what they actually produce. We take home and 1.11l )! lIagc

f or g ra nt ed . t hey become nature, and their underlying nSSL111lpt1l1l1S

recede rruo dogma and orthodoxy

'1he exile knows that ill ;1secular ,1I1l1 cunungcnt \l llI ld, lunncarc alII ,L~' prm Ision'l l Ilnrdcrx a nd b ur ri cr v, 1\h ic h c nc io vc II, wulun

the S<llel\ " f j; JJ nJ ll ar t er r it o r) , can ;11>0 become prisons, :Inti .ire uucn

dclcndrd Iw \ "l id fColson fir IICl'C~,it\ I~,~ilc, ern" bordcr-. hrca k

holrfLl'" III t l l tJlIgiLl an d C).PCIICIlCl'

17 0

l lugo 01 S I V ictor , a rw cllrh-ccutury m onk from Saxony, \\ ro t e

these h aun t m gly beau ti f ul lin es:

It LS, rhcrefore , a source of greal virtue for the praclIsrd

mind to learn. bit by bit. fi rst 10 change about in\'i~Lblc and

tl'LI1"I"1 y thmg«, so lhat afterwards it may be able to lcav e

them behind altogether. The man w ho finds I]ls hom eland

sweet is ~1I113 lender beginner; he to w hom every soil is 3~

III ' native on e I~ a lr ca dv s tr on g; but he LS perfect to whom

rhc ent i re world is as ; foreign land. The tender soul hasfixed hi~ love 01' vile spot In Ihe world; the strong man has

extended his love to all places; the perfect m all has

exringu-sncd his.

Lrich Auerbach, the great twemicth-cenuiry literary scholar \\ h o

spcru the wur years as an exile in Turkey, has cited ilus passage as a

model for anyone wishing to transcend naiicnal or prov lncial l i rni ts.

Only by embracing thi~ alt itude can a historian begin t o g ra "p human

cvpcncnce and it s WI tuen records in their diversity an d particularuy:

orhcrwrse he or she wil l remain commuted more to the exclusions 31,d

reactions o r prejudice than LO the freedom that accompanies

knowledge. Bu: note that I lugo twice makes it clear that the 'strong'

or 'perfect ' man achieves independence and detachment by workingthrougl: uuachmcms, not b y rejecting them. Exi le i spredicated on the

existence of, love for, and bond with, one 's native place: what is true

of 31 1exile L\ no t iua t home and love of home are lost , but that loss is

inherent in the \ c rv existence of both.

Hq;, ' rd cvpcricnccs as if they were a bo ut t o d isa pp ea r What i~t

that anchorv them III Leal;IY? What would you suvc of them? Whal

IIlIuld you gL\'C lip'? Only someone who has achieved independence

;lnd detachment. someone whose homeland IS 'SII eer' but whose

nrClLLIl\t:IIl(CS makes Ll impossible to recapture uuu sweetness. can

an"\ cr rhosc questions. (Such a person would also find it impossible

til dCIIIC ... iuvl .rcuon from suhst i turc-, fur rushed b~ illusion or

d11glll:1.1 .~Ihi' rnav 'CI'LLl like a prcxcripnun for an unrcliev cd gruuucss of

1111thlt,k and, 1\ irh it, a panhlnl'nll~ sullen di~aprro"ll of all

(IItI1l1":I'11I III bUll)':lncy 01 'PH it . NL1\ ncccs-:u ill, Wlulc I I l 'e rh ;Lps

seeLl1' peellll,lr III ..peak 111 the pleasures of cvi!c, there arc some

j 1l l\ ll i\ e t I L l n ! . ! ' LII be ..aid Illf ., It'l\ ,, 1 it, c on dr uo ns. S ee m!! 'ihc cnurc

Iii



",.dd ,J> " I;'rc'gn 1311<.1 'l11a~~, f1OS~lblc or i gi na li ty o r \I"ull rlfc,,1

p(c.Jplc arc prrnor~llJy awa re of one culture, one selling. one horne;

<"i"', .rr c aw ar c of at lcust two, ant i r lus pluruluy "I \ISIOIl gl\''''' ri - ,e 10

,W ,1\\an-ness lir srmulraneous dimensions, an nwarcncss (hal to

I><1rI(l\\ a phrase from musrc is contrapuntul.

For an exile. hubhs o r life, cxprcssiun or activity in the new

em r ro nr ncn t i nc v n ably occur agall lsi t he m em or y of I hese Ihlngs ill

another CI" ironment, Thus both 11l~ 1l~\I' and Ihe nlll cuvuunmcnts

.i rc \ II "J. uctuul, {lCCIrrll1g tllgel he r courrupum.rlly. Ti,er . .. " ~ IInujuc

plea", r c III tlus sort or apprehension. cspcciully if rbe chile IS

C0I1,ci,)1I5 lit' other cuntrapurual juxtaposi t i ons thm dunuuvh

orthodox judgement and elevate uppr ccuuiv e syrnp.uhy TheIL ISaho

:1 particular sense of aclucvcment III acung 'IS If one W C I c :II home

\\ill!C\ er one happens 10 lie.

Till' rcmums nsky, ho« ever: the hahn of drssunulauo» IS hnth

II ear~ Ingand ncrve-rackmg. Evile ISnever the state of being vauslicd.

placrd, or secure. E xr le, in t lw w ords "rW"II,ICCSlc\cns." ':I mind "rw inter' In IIuch the pathos of summer and au tumn [1much a, Ihe

porcnual of spring are ncarhv bUI unobtainable. Pcrhnpv Ihl' IS

another \I.l~ of saying thai a life 01 cvi lc moves ,lCCorUIJI~ to a

JJI Iercnt c ale n . ..u r. a nd is 1 < : " s C ' I ' o n , , ( a nd s et tle d 1 1 1 : 1 1 1 l i l e ,It lunne,

r \11eI' lire led outside habitual nrul'l It I' nom adic ... Icccntrcd,

l 'nl'ljlullIiIL but no sooner docs on e get uccusromcd io It 1 1 1 , 1 1 1 II'

un-,clIhng lon:c- e ru pl "; a new .

Itis important that subscribers notify us

when tlrey rnove. Please serid yotrr change

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Subscrfptions, Grtuus, 44<1Hobson Street,

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b nl li .m r w r uc r, l I H . . . . : . . I '· o r if .: m ~t l J n J ' ' ' I t . h . .m

J'i.ulll1 ...hh1g rJng,c-: , ••\ remarkable 11II\I;:h~[1c. ...chur J!1d.1II clli..hHm~

IIIt.;c.If\.' aLhICCllt-'nt: IlIr .\'r''''; lUff JJlnfl

(k 1CI~;cr . (, :'l'lt.:U £.'i. YS

NEW FICTION

TIlE \\,\L.L Of 'nn: ('LAGUE

Andre l!rink" l h r ul IJ !, h t h e lInJ~~ I) f the hrc.u PIJ~lI": w lur h

"\-Cpl Eurnf'l: il1 the r CI LH tL "t .: ~u h c en tu ry , \ ll lh e. .:

Hnuk, author t iLl ('!ttl'" '4llllO-f, C\rIOf~" J. .

umh.:ll1purJ r: o voclcrv \\hO'l' \\cl1·hcln~.' 1)(11'lC 1l 1l..':ll

In rhe JI\ 1~11I1l'of ; tpj r th. . : .u .L

Scpt.:mhL:r C.l"lcd ,£ll.lJ.);

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"CJ1"'\I.I~ crhu ..tuon ol J \.rIlU\~JourI1Jh"l IT) 11.1\.J.nJ

bv ouc ur 1•.run \rm.:ru ..J\ I1IU"( 10\ cnuv L wntcrv.

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Intellectuals in thePost-Colonial World

BY EDWA RD W. SA ID

I

(

II WI'I JIUlIh.! ",rid.!nl c:rlls to arm s ef Tbe Comminee fDr t he F re e

v.urtJ Ihlmll.·rly Ilk! Cllmm il~ on the Presem DallIer) th ll ar e evi-

~ klr ~ fen.:'ol-cU sense of -W es le rn ' o r 'f=-wor1d' or 'Judeo-

Chrisri.1n· cmb,"ll!mem. ~re is Ih.! I!qu.lly imp~fllve, bul alWl)'sn...Iin ...... J, . panr.l)",J .nd ~ s" "n li .l l. .. .u e vi tk nc e p oi nt ed '0 in Ih.! lI0II-

w. ." "~m "" r io ' ,t! lemeLL.... dcnunI.' i . ' iLlnl of Am er ic Q t he d ev il. o f i m-

pcl... .h"n. III ~ " mllnucil po licy of Jl'L !r cei~ hypocr isy and r aci sm .

WIII .: tho: I I I I. a Um'l I~ 'I .i u r 0 01 . h owC" rr . • ho:se c la im . a nd e eu nt er -

n ,. 11", ("1.",,,,11 Irm·IJ,..ntiJl

'h"u~h I Wllulun'l soy Ihal there U ~ m aJ"m ~ .~'l""o pI c rn En,l:md lOtIo

t cd n :nl ur :-,c l ur un tJ '01.11" ~Grtl lh \! Inlh;.m c:lIIpcru.:1't\;cIht.:n: an:

lIL.n) p eo ple h .r w hn m un I~ D!IC b o n o , ) Ih,· ~ . .1 Ii . .w w . ,. , " ,c " . I O i b I ,hu d II! cnd. even .hough. on the other, rhe _alue uf.~ "", •• !he

r - , : . . . . u n rU f t h e i r e n d , a n d . U lt U d C: :5 0 I aw - . . .rd~ l ' I iUIW'C . . .. t i o f \ . : a l ; ! ! I o m .ate .a thighly volarile is sues. B UI w hll rna)' ~ rh up> be surpns.1If 1.0 I!!II) ...

,h.1 .J eba,e , n various co.nlf; .. . of Ihe n",d World ~boul roleoniala.

pr acu ce ana t nc ,mji<!n.lu! ,d eo lo gy t hO ! , u . ...... d II i.",,1",_1,.

li,<~J d,vers". Ihen! are, lor n"mpl~ brg. ':""'PO DI p«lipIi W h o lbelieve [hal the bLll t rnc" .00 humi l i al lOl1 . "l lhe CIPCric:na Ilt.Il ..m.-.lIy enslaveLl Ih.em ncvcnheleu deli""red th e bcnefi15 of ..... ..-1 Ki f-

m.n'c iou,nc>s . hberul idea ;, .nIl tcchnnhl)!lcal p!d~.benc:f,u _ ' - It im e t ha I s eem 10 hayc: lumed c-oloni.li;.m into. mllC'h los unpII:awII

i hmg. Other people h . " " used rb e ~<1~unial occn".n fO r I .-

'PO:Cllvc o :t l t' C li on on colomal lsm, lire bell.' 10undcrslllnd !he I I I1TIt ' I I I - III<:S o f t he present in n ew ly i nd cp en dc n • • Cde,. Tbere, Ih.! pmbImIo rtf

~moclllcy. devclopmefll Ind destiny a r e f I :; ll ·o oes • • nnaed I I'> ~ Iht

pers~cu' ions. of In,elle<:lulls w ho h .. 'e CA.me ll on . f I e " I ho ulh llllld \pnK:lI>e puhl.cly and CUIlf3gcowly. On e 1 I \. nl ;, n f F o oL < : . . . hm ...... "- •

I 'I tk is l. n, u r N~ugi: ..... Th oMaD i n Keny", rn..jn' ani>u .,.,.h ....._ ~ Ii,uITerin~' di d "<II impocde I~ i n tf 3 n "i , ., a l1 !L"e , ,( their r h n u J m - - . . rhibi, the seyerity III the ir pumshmcm.

BU I n e it he r Ngugi no r rdiz..no r -ny uU,,-,n Ira, ,~. ~ _'- fth in~ hul ."<linling to Ilw:ir hatred of col.... ",h,m. The i t TW I J tI( ,..-

',lh;;1 I he y W l !r e 1i!llenc<J 10 only )I1Inl.lly. " '~ h in lbe ~ IIIIIi .., r h L t

r u li n ll au lh or i ll 's i n their own soci e ll c s . They W\ . 'r e ron s i<J emJ b y , .. .. ,

W.sl cm in lc ll cctU l il s 10 b e . ... .ilcn lnU ",hUlen .. ho, J C O I i i i n c a i Ihtcvr ,0 coloniul"m. and as .genu of uubidc ~on I fe _

h om e '" 0 ,m pr .. on c or ex' rnern. The lr.lsWy 0( Ihl> e>,pef1C1lC't]

ami. ,".iliiCll 01 all p'''I-colnmarque:-olim", Ii", in I " " cnn.,unn,~ 10....

IIl1n, . n' rn o, cd l in a ny allcmpllo l ie u I w i th n:lal" ...... .,.. .... - ......

i,"<I. r.,Hcully uneven n:mcmbcred I.hUen:nl lie .,.t.:ro. ~ ...

,'I imcn,hy. Iho! U~Cndll', c, In' 'mo..,n'PUi_.nd Q-

,nlunilcU wnrlth u ve rl ap o nl y pon'IUy. 1 1 M : ~mall .rc:a IN! is ~

.1111:."1>1,~ r t hi< po,nl, pruY'dc IU r ~ th;.n .. hal 1'''' Ii• ., c all •

1' , ,/1111' ,r if bltllllr . In whll ro llow~ I Wlnl II"' ' II c tl ns id er l he K1UIIiIiII

"I .hl.' iAlcllcclul1 terrain ca,nmon al well ... di tclq*ll ... ~ -

. ." II 'R i al c ul tu ra l d ,, ~o u~ C 1p eC I. ll y C t ll .: "n II 'l lU I II f'II ..Ml. d If"hfI~ 1 0 dnd e n eo D la g es a thetOilc IS w en : 1 '- 1 . . P i ,u i tc 1 ' " 6Iii i i . n..1



i-.--~--------.--.._------ -------- -.'.

EDW,\RD W SAID

~I J '''I",J", Ih..: .. ~ ~, In which a rc~"n,i~~I"\:J, II, n i . o ; . ! ! 1 "<Hilln ' J.1... 1 I1 .~ hl " " , ,"",j • p'"I·"uJllol.1 onldkclual pn.J ·, i, I.i~d)'In I" p , " x l Ih~ .n:. "I "w,JupplII~ cummunlly l>e1"''I.'I.'nI 1 IC l ropohwn und

(

11.0,,,,,,,1), ,·IIJ. n'lcJ .. .cIl:II"". Hers t shull be Irk inS 10 fonnulalc an

~h~"",I1'" II > • ""hi", uf bJJmc. Ihal i•.•mo re im er e su n 111;'-5of

.Jnu(Jr 1ft I W

more 1N.~'n!_! .rll.i,¥ 1t!!!L<!en\!nciOIlOns o r s im pl e ! lO gr e! .

II

Olll! "'-:I) ul gelling hold of th e commonesr posi-coionial debale i~

... D aII:Ily>c no c il> ~ un tc nl . b ut iu fonn, not w ha t i s 5 .l id 50 much Ii h 9 wf\ i4 u _ . . id. bl' "hum, w ho er e, . nd f or wlwn. BU I cw n ll)'ina 10 do Ihi s

JOn " r ;pgJysb R : 4U l r c. I l kind of askesis IlOl easily come by , ,iven lhal

die aneruJ or ~ nu nc i~ lI vc s lf al cg ie s i s 1 0 w el l- dc ve l! lp l! d. s o l emp ti ng .

r e m d , . Il b.lnII. Ta~e III I r e cen t i n sl ll nCc Salman RU Jh di e's e ru lq ue of

die Ra j m'iv.&l--hIJ di~8nosis of !he .pale of r ec en t f illN I J l o d .nicies

abauI Indil I :IuiI Inclu.de Jcow/ill Ihlt CII l 'WII and Lean', I ' ruJagr 10

Jnd ia_ A1!hough Rushdic's analysis arllued thtl t he n osw gi a eresscd

i n lO lC rvi cc by affectionlte rec.9l 110M oJ Brilj)" rule i n I nd ia coin-c id ed w il h t io c F -~ lk la nd 5 war I I1 d ! ha t " ns.: of R aj revisienism,

mmploloCil 6) ih C hug.: SLlCee" Of thl!'Sl!neLloli'. til m e aIllSll.c:coun~r·pari 10 i& ns e of COnKr.2 t iVC Ideologies In modem Bntain," nUlTI I ! r -

OLS comrTltn",101"S simply responded 10 wlull . s o m e : of !hem considered

10 be Ru ,. hd i e- s wa il in g lUll! whinins in public, MO re <l \' rr . t o ! he e xt en t

L h r t l Rushd,.: V o ' l L \ t,ying to m .ue a Illfger arllument I~I would pn:sum-

Ibly a~allQ imcllccIWll5 f or . ..hom Orwell 's wYlIlon of lhe intellec-

NIl's p~ e In .. ..,iel)' in to inside and oul,ide the whale no longer

a pp li ed -n ou ok rn r .: ll li ly in R ush di es te rm s w as aclually "whaleless,

!hiJ -.urld W ilh 'JlJI qu ie t c om er s lin w hi ch l !here can be n o c ll! ly e s-

~. from h i,m ry. f ro m hullabaloo, from terrible, unquiel fu,,-,"-Io

lhe e A le m 1 b. 1 ,htil w.u; R u,h uie '~ m aln p oin t. it was not the poinl

consKlcrctl ",,,nh laki"1I up and deballng. I""ell<l the m ain issu e fo,con~nlloro ","ob whelher thlnKI In rhe Third World hlldn'l in faCI de-

c1ined Iller dlrc~t colon.al"m had ended, and w helher il m lghl nO I b e

betICr 00 1"'-' ... hol~ 10 hsten tu the: .nln:-Iud<ily, I m ight udtl. C:~-

J wmdy f'iIrt- Thud World Imcllecluah who munfully uc,ibed r no sr o t'

( III trr pn:..:nl b."b~,jlle~, !fCU nRiC , and degrJdnlionl 10 Iheir own in-

_Iy ,AIIII~'C h . . l u rl ~' . h "l or Je ~ Ihat wen: DRily b " J 6C fo re co lO i i 'h r ll sm

1h,·A'lf·(",f,mull '",rllrnINJI ..,

Lnu Ihut huve re.encu 10 I l lu l . . .. . .Ie allC' , ,· ,h. , i; , Ji )o l1 l . H~" ,' I .' N~

t :. e, R u,l uJ i" ,

Thus Y "U cuuld conclude from Ihe , 'm<Ji lon . s ti r re d lip Ill'Rush.J1C" c. .... . li la l m an y people in I h. ! W ,, "« hod come IU r ee l . .. .cnough WlIJ enuush. ""Itt, ViC1n&mInd Ir.n-.. -. .l IMC hen: m..-names o.-mu..: c oum rl es . '" usually cmpll l) ' tU " ' lUI I l ly w C \I Qt .e ~

I IC traumas (the srudem ;nsum:clioru of the ""li es in r bI ! ~ 0(Ye·nam , the hO ilag. episode in the Inni.n in.lance, u much III

in tern.lionlll outrsges. the "loss" of Vieuwm Ind Iran to .......

n U li on al is m- .f te r l '1 In a nd Vlel""m lines haJ to be: dcfimded. 'NesIen

d em oc ra cy b ad t ak en [00 much of I bc,"inS. I U I d ~ ir _ 01 _

physical damage had been done Ib"*, Iht !rc .... _, 1$ Iiiin)'

Caner once I1Ilher KrQlnq~ly pUl it, tIw there hod been J I I U I U I I I dim-

"ie. Thi, feeling in turn led 10 • re'lhinting of tht ...~ p r o o : : c w 01

J«olhniUllion. W a s i l n ot lr ue , ra n thi' .- O!'YlIll&;Ition.hai -w- t.d

lIiven "them" pmgren and moderniulioo'! HaoJn't w e pnw lde .. l . ._ .

with onder and u kind of stllbilil)' !hll I"...,. Uoten'I beaJ IbIe lila t: s

p ro vi de f or t hc ll 1K lv es ? 'Nun'l there s ome I I l1u ci oul misp la ced . ~

i n t he ir c ll pa ci ly f or i nd ep en de l'l C1 .', w hi ch h ll >< u i r . e 'OI.icalIy led t: s 1M

B ok as sa s I nd lhe Armns, ",hose [nICHe•.-uua!con-d.~ In: people li~~RUS l' Id i e' ! S hou ldn 't WI: have held o n 10 !he c ol un ia .1 te pc 1M 1IIbjecI_

(, i nf er ior r ac es in c he c k, r ema ln e d true 10O I l r c i yU i r ar i on :1 I ~ -

II).!

I r ea li z e I hal ""h all ha ve just rqJroduce..l is IlOIIhe !hi", ludf. 1M

~ ennca tu r e. New:nhele~ it does bell, an uncombrablr. if ~

r~>emblance to what hiS be en s ai d by enou~h p eopl e . . ho b a ¥ I . ' imII-iR~ them selves ID be .spe lk in g f or th e 1M:.--l.1_bere K ' C I T I I E ' I I liIIk

~ nO ll gh ~ ke pl ic ism ! ha l no monoti!hic: ""\:st" in bet aiD. ~

I han o ne c ou ld sp eak co nv in ci ngly of the cnlin: a-rolonial ..tel .. '

one " , ..eepmg generalil-QliOn .fter anuther. The ICIIp 10 _ - a '~~ne r ul iZD ti on5 _ aeecrnpanied D r I whole'll!! of IppeaII., ......

' "~~ h i sl l ll ') ' o f u ll C- wa y W cs lc m COO llWlI 'k !n l. a n d I re e huJ_ JuI- ,

h . .. cd 1 1 ) ' a r c pn :h cn ~i bl e s eq ue nc e of ungrulcful bilinp 0Im . ,~I\';n!l "Weslern" hand, Wh y don't I h c : y appn:c;'1() . ... after ....

JIJ I , , , them? The !hens [0 be n ot ic ed h er s 0( COlIne 1.1 I Iu w _ . . , .

"'~" I hi n~ co uhl be eumpressed lntu lhul simple formula of ~

"I<J'mol!nunimhy G one ,,"" lile r aYl lJ e, I II lho: L-ulMIII I p c : o p c . . .. . .. .. ~n lu nt !' e nd ur ed .ummll}' ju,tice, un enUm~ ~ ' (( 'I I IU IT I ICppt I -

: h~ IL lI I II tlL,llInlon 01 Ihelr soclclie. an~ Ih~" inu.- lita .....

.'



j,

f

. . . I::I)\~ARDW S\IU

n : ' \ .. · I ' M . I I.. .·I~'-" , u hm l \ . , i n n l ! i v cn hJ rhcm a ~ : . . t u n c u o n u f unc.:han~in~

E1u 'Up . ' : ln \u ("' . 'r lu ri l>. CniRl!' n'let" IJJ u ll :.It'\! lh .: l r- .a . I I. ' I .! . !\.n mtlnue num-

h.!, I I I I """, . th.t . ,>n'pr i . ..oJ th ~ IIII",on",ly ""lail~J und V,,)I~nl hi,IO!)'

tlt cullml.lJ IOh.'n.:ntiun-nilOutl! b) minute, hour hy huur -l n t he: li vl ,!~

Ilf UWi\kJu..Ih ..mJ"t~lh:l:lh

Ilk!'!!. unI"kuh

"'I~~I'

, . 1 ' Ih~ L.·uh'nl~[ LlivLl1C.

1Th.. I i " , Ihlll~ hi I-.: "'JII.~d U t - "U I rhe hmu III Ihl~ ~ ln ll , ,' lIi,-

,"·.IU~ i...A . . . . . . h11.h,ing il. ". h ln .\' all~.:n,Yc~upfng ib anitu i. .l c .' 1 .100t!~,~.

IU'\.~. hll"ll; mUl-h It ...Uh ouc even :J'" U inc ludes, comprewc«. and

tL>-...:rb • ~r.'-"I o le ; !! . I t ' p:lr-Jdil!lII. I think. "'ill remain t he n ur ru uv e

f o rl ll " I C"nr-.d\ Hrart of Var!lIa~ Murin w nn I h~ n ne hund u ,"

k n < . . .. J.-d~'t1 I hI ! I r -~ ~I Cl 'm 1i c: .m cn l o f t il l 5 pe ec :h -l hl ll " il i~impossibleIV C1I1"'.')' th e lilc'",""'linn Dr a ny l !i Y~n epoch of one '~ e . \ i~ t encr-Ihu t

.. h,~ h m ~L ~, ii' t ruth. it. m l!anin ~-i ls ~ ub!le un d pen~ [rM li n(Z

....clk~. .... liI~,us w e d~om-ulonc."-unll yel ~lInvc)'~ Ihe

, " crwh . .. ." " "! ! f'I....er "I Io :unz " Afr ican experience t hr uugh hi s I1Wn

""'II.~nl~t.·rinl! n.,rrJUVl:. Anu (hi!' ! n.urr-.t iv4! in 10m i, :onfk,,"I&:d. di. .

n... rl~ w"h I" , ' r~.Jo:lllptiV<'torce. as well II . w-.sle lind horror. 01' Eu -

rope' ntl»j.", in Ihe iJark w orld. W hA leY 1:r is losl or clided D r evensimp!) m,;,d,.' up InM~ rl aw 'l n an ul iv e is c om pe ns at ed f or in 1M s be er

hl......ricd ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ! CR t " 1 n ;ils I tmpe ... .1movemem f o rw .mJ d esc r ib e ;, di~n:,·

NUns i I l I I . I all. F ur ... uhm Ih.: narrut jve whoso;: SUU r t " l: and aUl hor i t y he

I!>. Marl"", L::ut tnove b3.cl:wlU"cb and fo rwartb in ,rn.ller 'pimh. lery

mu,h I~ .....y I"'Kf cpisudes in the course of his journcy up river

u.. 'CUrm.J an : l i n: ll l) compell~ by th e prh1Clpul Il"Ij«IOry.

W1~ makes Conr~ di fferen t f rum all th e other coloniul wri~n

wl to W l:r c hl~ c ont em por ar ie s i s f ha l. f or r em .on:s ha Yin l noc hin g 1 0 d o

",it!! L'Oloni.alism. h e : ~ IIgn:al dea lmo re se tf -conse ioes 100UI whal

he did llull IM y wcn:. L ike m ost of hi s ot he r li li es. lhe re fon :. Hean r1 'DortJttJJ i . 0 01 J II .< Ig m:illll of Marlow's l!dvenlure5: il is also a dra-

mali"l ion or MlIrlow t elli ng h is ~IOry 10 II SIUUp of l istenera, II I a

. ,. "i cu l: tr 1 11 11 1:IlkI in a specific place, ;'llhoogh the alm osl oppressive

~ "e M"rh~'" 1IiIrT'~IIV~ ICl IVI! I u . wilh II qu ir .: I iCCUI '1 ICsense Ihal

I~~). , lU I " 'I ~ ~rd~n hlNloril:ul f ll re t o f im pe ri al ;,m, ~nd

il~lW cr ,lL.!...m l.em repre~everylhing...!!i!hllU I'

n lO f l . Con r" ' ! al IClISl Ih ow ~ us thaI W hD I M3rlow <lou ls conr ln -

F .. - : - H i 7 ",-"Icd oJUI(0 .~... .1o f I Il e·m in de d h l: l1 n: l" 5. Ind .. IS limiu:d II,)

.hal IIIU;OIl.,n Ncuh,;r Conm nul'M~rlow oller, u , u ny lh in ll OUI)id.:

Ihc MH' ld,wn .,Ul : r I"&: ~ni luUcl e,"IIIKli~!J b y Kum. urKI Murh"",. anti

..:unfiOi 1(1.1 Y un C-f':-uJnd !'!umcnnc cI-..c\ """lp.:ri""fk:'C unJ if. :Ii... ;.I n......1.\\.Iot IUU!IolcJcp ..:n d :..i mp ly u po n ~ hc ..... " . t . : n i \ r I . ! ' ~ulhuru)' u l l h l : , ,; :, .- r . . 4'

p ", ," cr K un t. w id "'; In r hc jun! :l~ I Ir Ihu l M .. rl .... ' 1" ....,..,." ..,. "''' __ .

there i.n ll UM !I IM ,k in g l or n un -i mp er ia li . .. u lt .. :f llI II .i '" i n a ~ )_ _ m . .. .

( h•• ~1I11~ly d in .l inulco l . • no! r1 \:Kl" , unlhmbbk •• 11 111.~r .h.:flIII'~ eu

l u , T he I ." lr cu lu rn y u l I he w OO le IhinG "unw . . ., uh .b l e E . .: cpl . .. .. .. 1 >aid.

m om en t ag o, IhMI Conm is self-conscious a bo ut l Ct Ii ng :u-.J <in.... -'1

lh~ nurrutive in U n ar ra ri ve momo :n l. Ihll.' ull.... in!! 11.. II I ~ lI l~ c a ll o: r l 1 l i 1

lhal fu r J"rllnl .,II....II"....ng up il5 'yW n hi,IIIr,. intJl'Cri~ll,m 1 1 ; 0 . , In f:a...

b ee n p hK CU an d lo.;ut c t1 by h i'lo ry . " nc I h~ 1 li e , >u hi <k 1 ~li ~h tl) ·

In,.-IU"'"I: r in !! " " Ihe Jed "I' the )'IIwl .v,'II. fl' )...1. "'_'"fI.·r. nn .. ,~

-'1:1111."11I I io hu h'l t ha i n .:gi nn. a no .! , .. < " I N l r - K I 1.:11,I I l ' f '4 ~ /

II be...r.. n.:pt!alinl! thai C"nr~ him....,U ''''''L"T ....... pmtlllhir ""WI' V

< ou ld h ll ve , presented Ilnything ~hcr Ihun un imp"ruln •• t I I I \ l I " I d - \ - n .BU I iloeo:u!I; , I",. h a ll an C J ll r ao r di t \l lr i l~ pc."'i~1lI n........ u :o I . .. ."n>C n(

h i~ a wn c A ili .: ITWr .inuliIY . ' ~" ~, n'I"" .. ilh . 1 I t o :

~~'Ihctu; rcslruinl Ill' som e one ... . 'IUI'" 1"n....~"T;d I • v e r y , ""_' IIR . .. .

II,if ",orld Wlih anultJer. always unspa:llj,-J bul o,I ifkn:nl • • _. co;:r a d '~ ~ l .I h z. a tl on I.l f u i t II hlii namtllVt:. Inlpo:rl:dlsm h :a ., ~ ~

t he .... ur c ,Y S(C tll or r epr es er na no n w hic h .11 .-.-..1 ii, ,n lho : QC 0(

Hcur: ul Dc,rl;'lrss. [ 0 5 pc .a k li n !h e b lacks . .. . ..· .: 11. .. . lU I "Ku ru :wid t i l l :

,~h~radvemurers(who include Mmrlow and h i~ auWcn ce) . ) UUT ! d r - l ' ~ .,\ IO "," io U5 n~ s~ u a n uutsider c an p nM .l ke In you 1111...ilo'l: comprehn t- •

,JlIn of huw the machine works, gIven (hal )tXJ 3n : I I $ U I O I I ) ' UUl oj' I)'~

w ith a nd 111I distance from u,

The form of ConnICI's narralive has hud IIIIU lives .. the pall-

,nloniaJ worll.l. hU~5Crti\"e !>OYCn:ign inclu,ive_ he been n:pnt-

Ju.:o:tI by IhnM! w ho 'peak loday for the We,t. wh:ol th.: \ \ I C " " Ji,l. M Il' . h a l .h e n:~t 01 In': WllIld Is. MIS,uiid m u ) ' DC , Inc Inl ,,"·dlum .iI dlb ,',

J l' ~l Iu r .' >t a re I II e .- cl ud e " ,h il l h l l J &;in n :p rn en lC \l a s " Ius4" b J . .. ,. .

In~ I ha l t he c ol on ia l w or ld wu. n:1I8~ly ..nd OMOiO li cal l, , .. .. .. ..

• • •,1 10 be!!," Wl lh . im :d ccm ao bl e. im :c u! >4 Il d) C O f T U J I l . Mun:ullef. iI f D . .

.u,-.!, ""I un whu! WIIS sh,,,~ In .he .... 1 .. "'111cA pericnl:.:-1 re-

l~rn h' (hi, U IIIII!! 1:Olcr-bul nn w h:u IIlU"" "''"WI'll.: .htm. -IJ



~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

. . . . ED\\ 'ARO w SA ID

p<No'\ : r. .nJ r . .. lllu..JC. R hcl,)r ky lly . ," t er m» ure, IU borrow from Julien

f kn&J , , '~ ;(ILK']" un InoU.:m Intclh:~lu~b. the , ir l:um;ull ion or poli l ical

p"...i".....hICh. h c ... .. , pn:",ienl enough IU k.ll..... l ea d i ne vi wbl y Iu

1""-" ,I~u~hl~r: , ,00 . 1 II I~ 0101i lerul n1"". ,I."ghlcr then ;1i s ce r t ain ly

"""I.>r '.-.I .1"uchIN. Whdl it reselurcly r.il> I" acknowledge is lhul rhe

~~.I"f1tl1l ~nu:.u"n[~reonunues. " ' much in the urolw;ng of l ines Dnd theOdel1llinl! I I I " bar rr er s, ~ ~ in the enormously complex and i nU H1!Slin

nlll<:n:h;,"g~ .b.:IWI.."I:n omlo:r celonlal partneN. The .frecI or Ihis di,. - .

C'I lWS1: ~ III ,JI".'" l ike-minded pwplc-Ihe ag!.ll'eSslVl: W .,tem .r s. and ..I'~ p ...ople ol1lsillo: th e We.1 lor w ho m th e A yulo llllh s sp ea k-a wa)'

( ro m 1 11 0:,".II"inll i nt er c ha ng e i nl D a r cS r cl ll bl y !lghl Iinle circle. [nsid~ I~ circle SClOO th e bl;UTlCle5!, the jus" the om nico mpe le nt . !h 01 e w ho

know Ih c ! nl lh a bo ul t hem se lv es lI S w e ll a s the o th er s: o ut si de t he circle •

sund • mlocclJaneous bunch of querulous whinin! complainers who

b: ft IE spill lhe: milk an d continue to cry over il.

II is 1M) xci ~1II thaI In i m po r ta nt i de ol oa ic al shirt thaI occurred

duri,.. lhc s-I decade or so ha s a cc om pa nie d th is conlr.ction of hen-

zons. 11k: Jimple>! w a y of describmg the ,hif t is 10 poinl 10I dnun&lic

~re in cm phaJi~ aiid quill' lilerally in directions Imong thinkers

IIOUiI.IIIOI fu r r .hoc i rcon .se rv ,l I ive p hi lo so ph iC ! b ut f or t he ir i ns ur re ct io n·

ary IIIlilude~_ Ttit e)Ulmple:s D r lyotanl and'Fo!Jcaull, whose estimablework C:1ITIe10 be 5urroullded by th e fir lesser figl lR!l of lhe lIoltl¥lI ..

p I , ll o ,,>p I. i t . • k :; c: ri be a ~rik..in!lack of fl i th in" ,, 111 .1Lyou .r d wa s 10 call

ttlt l [Ca i I c riumis iD i ";;[[8[i;, or emaocip,lIjon a n a c:nlisblColii'll.Fllucaullaha lumal hi l a nc :n li on I 1W11) 'rom the oppo1itional forces in

muvem , .l ClC ly h .: h ad ,"utlird li ,r t hei r i nsu rg en t ~ i,s!I A cc !p"du-

.,," ' an tl .:u nf i~ men l-d c:lr nq ucn L\, p oe ts, OUICa.~15. lind the l ike-Dnd

~ a e c : i I k J !hal ~1Il<:e power WIt> ever yw here i t M I3 pr obably beuer 10

t :o nc cn rr .l le o n lh e load microphy~ic$ o f p ow er t turl surround the indio

"idual. In bulh lyolllrd and Foucauh w e lind precisely the sam e lr ope

cm rr ll l) '~ J ' " cAr l; l1n I ll .. :i r l li ' ll lr l '1U ;nl rrM:n t in Ill..: p <' li !j ~~ o f I ib cr uu un :,!;I)'f'.. I, V!:, . .. .Iudl p""I' an crwhling unh« und II vinJku! in !: , ..I",. i~nil

""',cr an "..h:qu~lc fi gure ~or ploui ng lhe human trll.jeclury in !lociel),.

f

ThI:~ i. n"lhinr; III hJ<J1i :I IU 'WItN 10. W I . : are stock withm our circle, The

., line ,~ nnw enclosed by a circle, Ancr yean of support fo r t he a nl i·

colonl.ll slrugglc:s in p la ce s l ik e Algeri l . Cub a, viernam , P alestine.

V' I,.,.. 11111 came ID represent for !he W estern Ld'l t he ir d ee pe st englse·

IIW nl in I~ roli!i.:, and philosophy of dccoloni%3lion. Imoment of

exhau st i on and < l iS l lPpol nl ln enl w.u n!al.:hc,J Th k i, .h .:n u no : 1>qM~hear and reud .l:l:lJunu of how ( uli le i l W ' . a . , I... uppurt rc.-ulIllH ........

burbarie the rk.-w n :c un .: s t h; "t came 10P''''C! how-Ih~ u . aD .:lUrcme

~~uch 10 I h e bcnd iLoLMDlCl lW dn 'I ~ ln li Z " liOO h .. U.'l :n.

. Enter nl'J\Yterrorism ~ n < 1 b .rblI r;'m. E rner abu 11>0: "I Iold ) ' 1111 110- v'"

lurm.c~l~ superunnuujed c ol on ia l a ;p cn s l ike Juhn K <:lIcy wh .. oe ~I-publlclled mC~!a~ was: tbe!le colonial jX.'('plc, ~.,.e only coIIoI I iM-

ism U T, since we were foolish 10 pull 001 of .lv.knlll1d Indilt IIId "

everywhere else. inYlLllion. E n le r a ls o I I> .: B .> re hl lf 'a '\ 'e 'l O. S lc rl in p • ..aL nq uc ur " I he t he or et ic ian s of Ih e relulJ.>nsJi ip bclW\::e1ll Ii . 1\.'

movemrn Icrrorism Ind . There W 'o IS • ~IJencc o f 1 ) ' ' ' ' ' ' t ~,.:~~hy ,for whl'. Jeane Kirkpatriclc caJled IUlhoriw.n.n 111$oppoIIed 10 I II II t- . . Y .uan.n) reilimes wh o were Western allie". Ind wi th lhie _ 01 ' ••

Rcaganism a new phase of hi$l.ory tw d cle-.Irl)' bellln.

However else an of thi! might hive been hisrorica.l ly rmdcl . . .. .

able, d ra wi ng t he ci rcle: around the West c:cnainly wu and i, .....

aU m:livc D T ed if ying r ole for th e poa~loni..r i l l lCHcctuU. CDftIIint. •• ,

I I\ 'e ly i t shuu OU I th e pDSlIibilil) , of kllOWled~~ L a n d of disroofty of .....

it mellns, 10 return 10 Rushdh: now for UlOIhcr quoDIlion. II)be __the whale:

Ouuldc t he w ha le it the IIl1C'Casinll 5IOf1I1. lhc CDIIIu..!

quaml. the dialcclic of hillOTJ'. OuI.IIIIJc the: whale ~ is •

genuine n ee d f or p oli ti ca l flction, fo r boob lhal d,_ ne w an d

bener mlps of n :: rl il y. a nd m a ke ne w llinguages w it h w hi ch "'Ii!

eun untler.llllnd the ~ rld. O utsi llc Ilk: w lw k: w e !k.'\: 0.._

are all i rmdil l tc:d by history. we ;an: r .. Ji l> ;M ; ti ~ w i th h~1f)'

und poliucs: w e 5CC thaI it CIlI be as fal~ 10C Il2k: • poIi t lO-

fro: f i el iu n~1 un iYe r5C IS10create one in wh ic h n oh nu y n . . ' C d ,

to work or CU I or hale or love or xle....p_ OulSidc the whaIc it

hccnl l lc .~ ncCL'! I '- ' Iry , aoo Il 'II 'Cn:J.hll~rJlLnl;. II. IlrJpph:.lIh 1'-:'p..~iulpmhlcn» ~l'I:ulc!.l hy th e incurr"t"Jliuft < I I ' , .. ~ ilM .' " i li a '

tl:ri:rl. because Plllillc~ i., b y tum., fu f ' l. 'C MOO IrJ~"'J, a I I I I

M"nc timc~ (c. l! . . Ziu'~ I 'Ul tL, t.u:n) bo,,,h 0. 1 unt.'C. Oul.-itlo: t h o :

whale the wrlteri! obliged to M:'Cepl Ih:lt he: (or !thel .. '*' urth e crowd. pan 0( t h e o ce an , pin of the 'I Io rm . 1 0 dull objec-

livi ty becomes • glU t drum, l ik e p e rf e ct i on . an .-u..."S C U l l for which one mU)1 s tr oB IlI .' i n 'pi re of Ih c implMlibilily II

,..



.~ ...... "." fiul, ••k I I ! .: . . ..h"k " I h. : , ." rI oJ \ II Samu.:1Ikd,cu\

lolnhtlJ'!o IllrUiul .. I nm·' i(1I on. I'll ":1' tNr

!hI' o JOC . .. .. umbr.lh.'" t presence of a fie ld w il hu ul s pe ci al h is lo ri ca l

,.",.... prmk:~" in II fur 0 pany oyer all the 0ltM:r:s.

~ 1 .....11·1W.Lnl10 OYer-mt.erpret w lutl R uth~IC m eans, nor do I _~I

.~ I ...ut i < k " l l l > in I l l > prose lhal be _y ~ have 1~le~. l n s d C " l I r IS ~ IS

'~I:"'tl ,n a L"Ufllruwny wilh the Bnlish medlll he ISof COlIne clallT~-

"'II IhI: pnvil~,c uf SOlnCOllie w ho d ue , T Kl IR :C O In iz e l l iC !fum of Iu s

~","ikIKE ill P2lJUI.l :"p"st j!~~MS bllna ,. itt"'" i~xsell w c ! i l i ! sorurther:ux.l !\II)' Ihal1t 15Ollie I) I C Virtues I,) suc h C OftJunctum of t h C '

p oI il lc ll . . l Ih (tie L"IIlllImI an d lIC1>d1etic u also to p l ' O ' l ' D k e p en ia l r e. l-

iullons 0( a L"Uf l11OOII g ro un d ~ ur ed by th e ctIfIlraveny itself. Per-

""'" thi. L" t Im lOOl l l!Wnd is esp«ially Iwd 10 tee fu r the combatanu

d in :c tl y i nv oh .: d who seem to do m ore fighlinS ba.ck !han reflecting. I

~"lII1p o: rb "l ly " ,c ll u Al.lc nt and lh e a ng er I I u I I f ue ls R us hdu :'s If gum en l

~ ....: .w.. : l il ;c h im I f cc l o ut nu mb er ed l in d o ul or gu ni ze d by • prewilin8

L'tIIlKIUoU, lhal has come 10 regard the Third W orld IS In I I I Iuc:io\l)

a ui Nn .. -c W h cr cu .' v.e w ri le I nI l .pe ak n members of a liny lolc.cniztd

""nlli"' )" ... . lI. .. r~inal \'OII':~ _ I)IIf Jllunwlj~lic ~nd IciMkmic crllic~ e e -I o n _ w.~ ~ , ," , iJ~ r .l :l ly w r :ul lh y S)'~I~mof inlcrlucir.JRlI infurlTUllional am.I

..ndcmi.: 1'C"'1UR:C>. This lui! n~w~papers. TV SU llions, journals or"

upini!!" ~nJ 1n.IIlUle."I I I ! d iJpus~1 Mml of them hllve n ow I8 lc .c n u p u

II1ridem dll>f1l of riahl_rdlending damnation in which whol is non-

Iw hi te . nt ln ..... b le rn. a nd n un -J ullc o-C hr lf li un I~ t M:r de d t og et he r u nt l~ r

~ die rvbn.: ,t! I&:ffUrl'", unoJlor tY11 T il allack Ihil il 10 def end the W e.l·

em ok"",.r..u.: .



------ ------_._- . . . . _ - _ . ._-----------

EDW II RI J W , 5 11 10

:IlIJ Inll"'' ' ' ' ' ,.11 rrq"''''''~r.1nc~ of "p,nilln i. ~j(.·ulalL' tI in lne circle IlulI

I 1 1 : 0 " , . . .. .~11.:h...r... l cr ll .ln ~ • • " "r elo : wl>~l\!-untllhl~ is V'l:ry importnnt-«

cn!c'n",I"tn i•..:CII "Ad,,',vcly ... un expenenee th'" h"" ended, 100

" h r ." " . . h l( h ." ~ c la nn s a bo ut o r r ep ar dli on s f or ils w .m .g es a nd c on se -

QUl:RI.·C, o n " . I h~ I 'I \!" ,n , ~ re u ism i~ ",d a ~ b o ,h i rr ele va nt a nd p re po sr er -

005l)' arn~""r W ho:rca., it docs seem 10 me tXlrJorti inurily i rnporumrI.. n:nlCllli>.:r Iha' I I .. . c ' ln l inl j iny ddxllc Ihal "," b \ . -cn . '. imu llJ lcd t. y

erili c , a li .! ., ' '11 a "','n,o;. n : ,! .! !l n ue r~ o f COloniUlism, sueh u~ SUlma

JlbhlJic. Ellb.1 A hm ad. and alhers-inlelieclullis whose work h lQ ., .

Ir.o..~a " lI co lO un I n I hc W es l. i n I ha l Vl!ry s am e C ir cl e w ho se cta5u~U5 ..

b t . ' 0 i • • 'Cl1lr"f pruieci f or ! fi ll j de o[ O Sl sl 5 of In I ft lr ma li ve V I'C sr tm ,

J ud c: o- Chmu. n I r~ u, !i on -I hi s debate rtslilies 10 ~ n e xp er ie nc e a l e aT II-

nni;Uison t llul C"RlJnUIlS inlo Ihe ~~senl ~nd which,. I s lmng ly believe, II

e : IJ~ nlk " r Ihe p<l'>!-calonJaJ tnlelleellml 10 clan? I n a e_plllJ.

L:! nil! re turn 10 C onrM d once: more . O utside Ihe group of

M ar low 's h~ ll:r u:r ~ li es a n u nd ef in ed In d W lC lc ar w or ld. C onr ad so me -

l im es s c. :n ll o 1 0 wall! [0 laid !ha! w orld inlo t h e : irnperiel meuopoliran

disrrounc represented by .Marlow. while, lIS I said. by vir tue of his ow n

disiOCl.r .:d ~ubjccl,i" ily he ~isls Ih e cITon mel, I h av e I l.WI ), J belieYeC.

sucreed. in "" d oi nll. Fo r Conrad'! J el f- i: on sc iQ lU ly c ir cu la r narnrDV!

f or ms e nc :u ur "l Ic u s 10 sense ir nO ! the actWllily, m en the JX*'ntial of ~

m al il )' l ha l h : . o . $ remained inaccessible ro imperio.lism me l which i n lhe

pusc-coloniul w or ld h IlS e ru pt ed i nr o presence.

E l'\:n if w e conlif!e ourselves 10 cultural I J1 d i de olO Si ca l . ne li le ls .

lhe evidl:nc:~ lur ! hi s i s boIh impr e ss iv e IJ1d r ich. For ~ only has lhere

V"'[bten I w hole IncOilure ;W d a [ hc olY (If rc.sullnce a n d r e sp on se . !hereha J been iii ,.,.; ~a[1 disparate l-colonial rc 1 01 1$ .I t re me nd ou sl '

vi me 'elk ~lIcrn I en u e jlh Ihe melro lilan world in Icomm

V dron III re-ifI>\C!!!'illll, re-lnterpretlng lind e~f'lImJmll I~e SilU o f i n rc n 'lily ana I he lem un C On !estC d wllh Eu~. Some of II for example.

~ c on vu bi ~t ly in l l! : wr i lin ll p ro du ce d" " d iJ (i pl es of FaR on like Sha~i I I 1 I . I JOilaI A . 1 r Ahmc:d-inlerprcIJ to ionirdijm a.uertlng lh e nm·

DYe culture o~ilion.ln 01 cr InJrancu. n ovelists li ke N8Ull i

T~ib &I i" r cr nscr ibe in their [ icnen such greul .opai of celcnial cui

IUres:lo Ihr.:'l0ll)1 ~nd the ~e 1010 !~ unknown. reclaiming !hem ..

!heir u.n, posH:oluniul purposes.BcIWL'Cn collJni~li~m l ind liS geneK logicll1 offspr inS the re is Ihu, •

htlldin~ un d C~'ln"-(lYer . .Many o f! h~ p o! >l <o lo nr ul wmers belr !helf

III

. I . !h in k w e s ho ul d begin by l«epIing th e notion t h a r t I I I . . . . . . . dIrft

~J In I rr ed u ci bl e 5 UDj ec ti ve core to hWl\lln uprrigp Jbja nzrj== ,~J~;,

IS

also nr.slonealand

scculu. it iJ ~ibh: to c:omain kiads0( ..".-

';~1.•!

'15. iiiX l-cen!iill !m i'I iiIl r o r me-il iJ no t . c : x Iw a s e e d . • ~ ~ , ~ ,

! /le on es r na and I imi~ t.,. doCtn' IDe!I ' •• " ,li:, tr llCIJ. j mean ,impl), Ihu ~ IeYC Will'! G I 'l JY I Ic i I bM _ a.a.c- ::~ .IU IlI vocllion is Joeiall), possible 1!'Il'C1I as desin:able. il is.. ;.

IlIQdmil5ible COhllwiiC1iDrl.tlhe s ame l imo ::LUb . Ji ld IIIIIlye. O ( b i a r i - ).:,1 e ; o ; rience a 1 ' O W I d e;o;clusions, e;o;clusions , ..

sunce , only women Cln ers emmuE cxpertern,

,;an u nd er st an d J ew is h surr ering, ani), fonnerly C 'O Ioow IIIbja:a .:.

Ijl1\lersWid co lo n ia l ex pe r ien ce . No r doesw"al I am r a l l r .i . . .tIoul '-'"

1(1do wi lh ! l&) 'i n g 8 l ib l )' thai !here ~ fw o s iLI c J ID 0'Cf)' quatioa. Fo r

Ih~ u if l icuhy wilh theones o f = : hu i ~M5 . J Of with t.men _ ...

t' thaI once adm itted these pol.rilie5Ibso1ve.nd forJ i~ • JIaI ...

more ianorance IJ1d demagogy than ! h c : y cnable krJootolcdp. E_ ...m ol l c ur so ry look al th e fonu1'lt!3 of' rhcories 0( r w c e , 0( the modenI

-uie, o f m od em narionaJism iuelf, Vl!rify rbe ..t tnIIh 0( lllia. I f , . . .~nl1W in lll.lvanc:e thai m e blll:k or Jewi~ "" 0cmwI ~ •l un J. :r m en wJ ly c om pr eh en ai bl e a ni ), I II J e ws Of Blacks 01'an-,...:,r,1 of all posu as csscnlw som erhirll ....hich. I b el ~. is bach ....n-..1 u nd I h.: r esu lt of inlcrprelilion-namc:Jy !h e aiAencc 0( ,

-~". Blackness, or Germannes». o r f or thar m_ O(Ori" •• II......



E D'I'A RO W SA ID

( h o . ! c,p:rl~ '': rather

,..XI "" ,1<:"",11.' Ihe .. 1 " " : ' " •II . ," , ,, ,1 1 > 0< :1 . .. , ' .cLn"wle ~~ Ih~ nla.,~iv.: y nutle an com plex

b ., lO ry .. I 'r -: ~; ;" I bUI nevertneles- ""I?rlappiny and Imerconnected

cxp..-n.:n.;"'-111 ",""cn . . , 1 ' %.Icrncr~. or Blad,s. o f SUl l es . ctc.v-tnerc

~ nu p ani .: ul ar i nh !l lcc lu li l reason for gr~nlmg each and all of them anIIfe:U M oJ . .·"s.elm:J.I SWIUS. A nd yel, we W O \ .I l d wi.h tD preSNl !be 1 \qu,dJlfru lIl' C " ' . . . : h >0 long .. < w e : .ISO pn:grn some: sense or ,he human ..

'cUiii'mumty h, wh .. .:h Ihc :III long, An excellenr eumplc of what I

"",an I" .:n:ncc R'lnger's and Eric Hobsbawm's collection of essays on

7J,r lmnui,,,' "fTrtlJilifJlI, w hich inclod es es~ s on m vent ed u adi lio ",.

lhal an' 11Ight)' ~'Ci aJ iz . ..! .nd local, y.:t all of them b.:aring I llI ce s o f

simibr S l JC l o- pul i (n : ;J a nd ideological impulses. ~ com afllive D 'bctk.T. Ihc .:unll~puntaJ live I h c : , I WII It.

ErIDl.·, (OC. DOIlon 0 non-synChronous eapenences. ThaI it

~ "". aD t.: win,"!. I hr ougbl lD r i imecpVI I! IE I '1 ;r a ' ; C f C Q ! ! O I ellperi·

e nc es • . :: .e h with it s pilniculill a ,eniW I e of develo mem . s

~::l~f1r iiiI II , , I I" Inlcl lIOI l L'Ohcn;ncs; U J d jl,. sys(;m of Ulcrnal relu-

IK~.

1..:1 u> cunlrol>J rwu . r ou gh ly cO nle mp or ur y I CX U . the Dt$C 'r ip r ion " ,

I'E~.I'f'I"n :all iu m&Slii.e. impressive cohen:nce and, • comparll l ivcl)

.Iender ''Olu~. A bd el R ahf fi ln .1 l.bani 's JOKmrz/. BO ll i d al e trom

tho: 18:W'". TIk: Disc:ripnf1fl wu s th e 24 volu me :!Ccounl of lhe f~nch

C1po...!iI1l1l1III E~n)(pro.Juc~'d by N up ule on 's r ea m of scient ists, which

"'" f wd with him. Abd el ibhlllll.n III lab.ilni wu lin ESyplia.n noublc

anJ '''/11''. u" n : 1 I ! !I U U S h~aUcr. w h " wilncs~ ano.! liwd Ihnlugh Ihe

i'n:Jk:h .:xp..:dlllun. TaL .c (ur cumplc. III< !-li,lI.lWin!! r as .. .u sc f ri ll "

F.urio:r'~ intrudu.:liun 10 Ih c Dr>l'riIJ/ioll:

Pbc.'\I between Arrtc~ ~ntl ;\)Ia. and communicating easily

Wllh E un 'f "! , E IlJ lP ' OCC\Jpl~' t he c en te r of rhe ancien! conti-III:nt. Th", l'OU ntry presems only 811:111memories: il is the

h....llclaoo !)f I~ am .nd con! lo : rYc s i nnumc :J l. I bl e monumen ts :

i b pr i l !l :i pJ ll cmples IIr11lthe palaces inhu.bllcd b y i l~ ! ;i n p st i l l

c "i . .. ~ " .: n t ho u ¥h I " lellsi unrreru e di fi ce s h 1ll .l u lr cl ld y b ee n

buil t by .t Ic lim e of lhe T rojun W ~r . H om er. Lycurgus, seton,

f')rhagor.b, MO OPillto all w ent 10 E gypl 10 study lhe sciences.

r eli gion. lind the l aw ~. A l eu nc kr Ihundcd a n o pu le 1W CII)'

there, whi<.:h lor u long lime enjoy.:d commercial ' lUp~)

and which wirncssed Pompey, C u'~r. Mllrk An",ny. and

Augu~IU' ,JedJing bel ween them 1"'-' lal" "r Run..: uno.!lhal u (

Ihe enure "' .. r IU. It is therefore proper lilf !hI' cuunlry III l I . l : - " \rruct Ihe alieni ion o f lllu st ri ou s p ri nc e .. w hn r ule the d . . " S l i n y 0( )

nat ions,No considerable P O W I : T W I U ~r "massed by :my 1 I I I 1 O n . ]

wh~lhcr in . ! he W e~ 1 or in As ia. IM I diLl IIOl aI!I<l turn tha i

nMll un 10000 rd E I lY pt . w hi ch was regar . .o.:d in .orne 1T Ie " .1 5U I1 : . .

its muu 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 .

He spe.b a.!o th e nuiOllllizing mot Il hpi . .. ..e 0( Naook;ga', jpwiga

. , ,' Egyp t in 1 '198 . The resonances of i f I C gn:m names he !lU1IVnOO:l. . dII:

pl:to:ing. the grounding. the nO !! !l l! iz i nl l: o f fon:i&n £ O ! ! ! !! I o ; S I within d II : ' "~ullural orbil of Eu ru pean e lC i$l en ce- .l Il hi~ Ir.uwnutc:s c~ 1 I 1 I 1 I I .4n even! inm II plTk.'eS' thaI is much longer. "I~r. ;and _ ~_

.ble 1 0 l h e E ur op eu n s en si bi li ty enloldo... .! . . . i lhin hs IIwn .:u llu l1 ll ~ ..._

-rrucrure, Ihun such lin event coulu h",v,: been fur any ElI)'pciatl

enduring tho: cun"'Ik!~I.

A I alm ost the same l ime Jabani fC<;nrlh in hi . . .},,,,mul,. l ICM o r.n~ uishcd. bU I no! unpercept ive r enect iu lls .1I I the ~: whIII he

....)'$. lie Sirs 115an cm bl ll Jc d t e1 jg iO l U I IOllIDlc reconJi ! l& the C O ! !! IU e I I I /

.,,'It" country l ind the destruc tion or hi~ ' i l x . ; i C l Y . 11Ii. )'I'IIr ill th e

t ..: [! lnnmg III' a pe rioo I I\I Irkc tl by lre'oIl t>;,ltk~: ".:riu,~~..tt.,~

,uJdeRly produced in R frighlcning manne r: mi~ ri" " mull ip licd wi th-

.•ul end, th e e O lu rs c .. f,hing.' wus Imu!l lc tl . the O:llIIlI"'lIIn1C~ni"l! "/lili:

AJ_ ...o rr up tc d u nd Jc,lructi"n ,W \ : n . " , k i t a nd the oJ..T.I.'olalh1l1w... ","11'

st.. 1 . [Then. 11., 11 I ; l . I l I d Muslim. he Ium, h-. . . .L "' n . . i I C I . . ' t 0fI h im . c lr . . . . .

~I' people.] 'God,' ! I l Iys lhe Ko~n (1i.9) d,~, "'" unju!1lly ruin I.'iIio

.'Il,,~nhabilllm. a~ j us . . "

Wherea., the French clpalilion W.L' mar!"l"! ., II!.: Jln.._'1: or..'h.,I~ tcum IIf s ci en ll ~l s w hu li C jo b i l .. ..1.' IU ""'1"'1. ') ' Ei!)p' b il _

.

•.~ '~r ,urvc)'ctl bcflJrc-lhc result of I:uur~~ "'''-' lhe ~.. ,"",umc \

Il , Hr ;{ lli rm -J bb ur 1i h us C ) ' C ~ f nr . unU l I n l y apprt t~. the 1ia1.' 01

, ' ''~r, Thc)' beur upon h,~ e;\islencc lO S a cun4ucrn! Eg),I 'UII~-

.".': lor n lm comprc~liCd IHib thai o r II w6Jul!ul~'\JpanICle. -If iDle

, T' iJi i icn more than !eCoid Ihe Fn:n~ h Mrmy5 comlllll an d . .. ..

~ . .



._------------- - _ -

Ef) 'I \\ !C f) W SAIO

ii' anp:rlltU' J .- .: I\ ." ,' • ii' '.. · rw h dl ll in !; ly h ur ,h n1CDJlun:~. ils pwe~llnl~

..nJ ....I !J I 1i " pl~ u n .. ·h ~kaJ ubllil)' h' ti n whut i t " "n (c d Q Cc or dlli l> ' II I

1",p:",lh~, no' . ,,' Itt~ naliVl:~could afr«l. T he d is c~ pa nc y b e t w e e ' 81 Il I .' pu lJ l k. p r t, JL r c ln ~ the Di:.s(·,.i~ti"'J an d Jaba~r prompt response l~ /

I 'n:lnrt' I,'IJI. 3 [;,t Ihut I Il gh ll l1 hl s I he terrum Ih.ry conlcsl '0 une'

'-I~all) b.!1 .. . .cen Ih. :m .

II L' 11<11.m fi .: ul l 1 0 f ollo w ou ( t he resulb o f b .b u rt i " Buiuxle. lIS infat'! S"1l(' rJliuri o l hislorhln~ n a v e done. one. ~ .'. .n 1 1 1 1 . 1 l O 5 1 i.m~diall:l! \

- . c < ' h...... hi, ~~p!!riCI1« prncJuced 11~.r.c.rru.muhal

~orTII:. II per i,(cn( Itlcnnc o r E~ypli3n. A r ab u nd I sla mi c h islo ry : 0I1f:

tim II ..... li nt ! i n J .. bani Ihe seeds of Isllmic reform ism which, IS

pnl'l111llgar.:u lerer by A bdu and A fghani, will .rgue ellher Ihat Islom '

hOI . ! b e n c r b o . . ' . . . . ,I'h: '1 1( xi er l\ in o rd er 10 comP'!fi!.wilh I.he We s t or I t N . m ,10' M"\:C;ln "'Ill' the bener 10 combat the West; and. to cut the 11 M

. .. .!Un • .bh :ln i c an 011", be seen as in itialing the iRUDeR,.. : i ' i ! t a( I i I l ! :t io na ] ! od r- .: un .« ." io u~ nt ~~ t hu t culminates in Nuscrhe teory and

pr,",-1i'-'1.On the D lhe r ha nd w e h ;no e n Ot 1 1 1 . . " . , . 5 found it necessary 10 retId

(N! d~elopmcnt o r n i~ le en lh c en lu ry French culture and histor)' in

t e rms of N~poleon'J Egyptian o ped ilion . T he wne 11Mbeen true d

Brill colOnialism in Indi •• a ~ign o f s uc h i ml 11 l! lI 2 rinse Ind wellih

aJ to ~ become for members of the imperial culture. IfllCl of natult.

Y .: I . .. hat 1~I~r !lCholl" .nd crit ic! say about I II 1M EU l'O pe 1I n lor!

made IiTtr:lrly possible because 1M :DtNrlprim eonsolidated lhe c;OII'

quest of th.: Onen!. is also I function. atttnualed and Ille. of ~e ar he r e or ue st . To ""rile loday about Nervallncl Flluben whme "'O r

d ep en de d < 0 r o !l ss iv el ,. upon the O rienllhcn il .ery .lIuai"ely to repe:1I

lhe French im pe ri al v ic lo ry . c on so li da te illlroceS •• n d e xt en d r he m Inl

150 y t'a l') o f European expe r ience allhough in sayillJ 5u ch I rhinl 'A'!:

ante :I,lIn highlight th e discrepancy bl:1~n ....h.t is !ymboli~ in the

~i'lm'I of Jabunj (0 Fourier It is not • matter of ucluS IIJII . 115

1o uc ~ull e nd Llcan would have U J s ee ! lUC h I l fi np . b I I t of ISllenl ,nd

IncurnHI",uc d Iluplllilr th~1 pmi!l! in I ¥lnery of fo rms "They; (he

cn~I~. 1fI1I,1 III......IyS ( lI kf U J . the Europe.n c on qu er or s. i nlo I ICcount·

filr 11'1. hu.....ver. they Ir e an ep isode we experienced. before we ~

t o o dl Cr Ihings.TM a,~m ~ry (~striking On th e one !Tend M usum e Ihll tM

whole I I I ' history i n c olo mll t er rit or ie s w a s a function o r the impeml

,, \

"~nlcn'\!nliun: '"Ilhe IIIhcr.lllcn: I~:ln npally .lIIai_ ~_ ... ~.:_'

.ul(1niu~ unu.:nukinl! ' were a phenomenon rna,), '" _ . . , . . _ · t , , 'cccenmc 10 t he e en rr al Klivilie! of Ih<: 8fl;:t1 mm-opot_ arIIInI..~,.~.Thuv, 10 fOt'u, principally on .niludo In Europe an d !tie U .S ...... :,~

h~ , b ee n I Icnll.:ncy i n a nl hP 'O pO lo sy . h i, 'o ry . and ndtuBI ...tiei .. '~Ir"'~1 rhe w hole of w orld hlslory IS " icw. :lb le !I)' 011 1I'II:ta~~"

" hu ,e h i, lo ri ci zi nl ! and di5Ciplillllry ri~ eil~ InOl _", <It --11. '1""'-t:oloni~1 period. restored, history In p i . ' I J I I ' 1 . . : m:t ~ - , " 1 ( , . ; : 1, lUI" h is to ry , I n( cn :s li ng ly . l he r er ~. IMn: h:we bee1IlIO fuU -*CTib- • ~;'

.:.1 sludies of the n:lalion,hip belW ftn mooJem ~ iniIjiCl ..... 'n ;and (IS c ult ur e, t he o cc lu si on 01 ' Ihll deeply .ymtrionI:: maiaml!ip __ ~-;!

In! a result of it. More p:anicubr1y. I~ nu."u!lWJ' dc.flwduu: . :Imrmal and i .J eo lD 1! ic al -o f t he lreat French : Int i EniIM lntaiE ..... , S , : , ·,'n the lacl~ of Clnput: ha s al~ _r been ,'ud~ fmm • dlCcAt'IieII.' +•

.tant.lpuint. All Ihl:SC cli siom : lnd deni:1I5 :Ire. 1bd~. I tpt0duu:4 1 1 1 : . . "

(he strid~n( joumalistic deblJtn about dccnInni7.llion. in ...... ~~i

ali~m i~r ep ea te dly on I 'C ' I : 'O I ' d II m yi", in cr n:d.

because of us; when lire

Know Ihal or w ill kn ow lIOIhil1l. M : x - ctnIinl

I 1m ria Ism I ' . f .),':':

Werr Ihr dispulet'i wlut 01 ' koowled.F .. cokIn iI I ls rn . .. .. : : ' 1 " ;. :on trm'ET'SYabout me1hodollllJ ot' •.b o u I l I I C I d e n r i c pa"_iM5 it..!•".

.. r itinS of c ultur al him ry. we ' fI IOIJ1dbe jusrif ied in ~ • ..fltrha~ "1)nh nodce. 1M IlOl rea.lly Jeriou!I. I_ fIrI:t. ~. __

l .o lk i ng ab ou l I J I 1l II 1 comer of .hIII. in thr --dal pIMtf ..... \

non • . is II compell ing ly impo r1l ln t I I1 II in tm:sf iJ I I cmf~ I .. ~'i.•

;:,'1 W31\110 spend more than 1 moment: I I I lk in a I I I N I I I I I . . . . . I I ~ - ,

"',iou5. There is n o q ue st io n. f or u. am p lc :. " '- in !tie J IM ' • I-

c ur ao rd in ar il y r nh :n sc : r ev er si on !tI lriblll and reliJioIIs *,.. t '" .;.'':<lmplniet'i ~nd dtepened l1'li1'1)' of the dis~ ~,..... .~,

. .....-a-.:\ '••:bl have existed ~lnce~ir.IPIey ~ not kIlUIlI,.CIftBI bJ- __ .~Ihi~h European corom.h5m. Momm:r the " I f ' lO I I I 1 I T ' I I Q I I I r r ' ,.reJn.:e bi!lween ! tn les. n ltIOfllll ism,. !:'Iltnit' JroIIP'. rq"- ~ I~ '.

:~Iil(f~ h as "';Ih ou l qu es ri on been ampIi f I• .I I . . w e n • , . ..~r: I ~ rg e d eg r ee Ily the minipulilion of ~nlon ... diIcaIIrw. lilt"t JU !,'lio n In d consump4ion of ideoIOIinI medla "piCA -....

- ,r np li fl ca ti cn a nd r ed uc ti on i n T O ~ y cul'TC1'£)' o r . . . (&,,1 I i ' t.. . . .' 1 1 1 i f



E D'A ...R D '" S AID

" "Ilk' ~.;.I'I,,'"I' 141 llq.lt~ • I I l ' " "",,plttll In thl : In '. : r~ . .l "I ...... tc pullc) [n aU ul

lhl'" Hlh,,·II~"\.·lU..I , 11~'V1.."lJ)l.'d ~n III1IIh:n~•'J~ 11I1p"f1.;,nt role, nu"h~n: I n )I I I) u p 'r l ,, ,, 1 ' 1I 1 1r~,'run,1 an d ),,,1 " "" pr lllll.,,,J Ih a.n i n t hl .: ' UV .cr1appm~

I '\!j! . .. .. ,~ "'I"'r"·' ..... anu cul tu re 1.:11..' " I" '~dq l lf co lo ruuhsrn when:In.: J""'hu1.-...u l . .. .cular mrcrp rct anun : .m: curried un lor very high ~lakc~.

I"••urall) II,, ' I''''r ''," (k ro ll'''c "I

I'",..:r

h , , , h e " ""II

Ih~"LIe III the ~...II-

..l~.'L~IUl~·d"~""h,:rn "' I Ill: IctIC.... hUI I hl .! ' rl.·.:J.hh: n:.. !)C) lU lill.' nn-

....lalll" ,.: pan_!1 ~~~, been

r~1''''~CnL "",rk rln Inula ""U I"dkl.'LaIl.Oy 1:::40ul Ahnu.J )

"'00 """'It Hh h .. ITTgf lf i "h lc t. i Ihe,"" c"rnJllitillC' b.:lwccn lh e pu~I' .;

I:(ll"nwl unl) ."'Ie and the intellectual ~llIe:.,rnilllr s lu d.i cs h av e

bern JlnJJu~ . . . J t a ) . Ar..b. African and u ll in American opposirional m-

1c:1ln;luah

Tho; enure I.:!;:.rcy t herefore o r wl la t can met aphor ic al ly be called

!he Mf"UI!t!'e h el wc <n C on . .. .d ! ln Ll F a no n, w it h o nl y a fe w e ...cepnons 10

II . " "" been U,,,,,,lrou> Lei us concede Ihal, given thc discrepancy

bet~~ European cclcmal po. .e • • "~ colonized JOCcI.i.s, thci~b a

k.Jrd of liiilorltUi lilteSl") b )' .. hllh celoiiial pieSSafE created ami-

rol"n,~fiat cOnccrn.- rni1s-i.he - W . d Y in wh'iClr.'severalg e r iC . . ..n oH > I au :r .l he c on m£ ! ! ia ru .j Qu e~ i n a n i mp ov cr i~ lw U R (. 1h a1

rca"on rnorc uilngerou. form, Iha nks 10 In .: und er ly ing c om plu is :ln l

aJlJ;~"'c;:n Int~lle.cl§h..1l1ld..Jb~5diLlnsl1lYll.ons~~r.

Tho: muh. ;I., I n.OIed ear lie r . ha s be en a n i mc llc clu aJ pcliucs o f b lam "? \ II'and ~ dr.wlc reducnon in th e range of rnatenal p ro po se d f or a ll en ll on )

;rnJ Conlruv~~} by Inlellectuals.

There un Iume here 1 0 p lo l the various strdlcglcs t ha i m ight be

cfnplD)'~tI 10 w ...l~n. expand, de epen Ihc area o f p o si - co i on la l uuellec-

t U M ! :li:UVIL) In unlcr 10 lre al the rich r esu.lual aC luahur:~ of the colom al

sc y. ~ a VCI)" bnef and schematic, an shall

conlin.:"i!"1TI--"'y"'~e:1rTf"lo:':""l'IWO;::-::::r t hr ee p oi nt > a nd I Ilu ,l r: lI IV C e xamp le s. I h op e

rlf be IO'!liven lor re,sclllns Ihe problem anecdotally, Tw o years ago I

I I i. I J ~ c.:han~~ e nc ounter w uh an A rab Chmllan clcrgymun. who carne

IU I n .: Un'I"!! S"'tc" he 101.1 m e. on an exceedingly urgent lind unpleas-

1 1 1 1 1 mln,,,n A , I mt ,~I r happened 10 be it member by blnh or Ih~

rel~lIvd~ ,n1all. bU I ~Ignrf i,anl. nunoruy he sl!rvctl-A rub Chr illiun

P~swm~-I ....a~ f II O" I nl tr c" ed in what he had 10 ~a)' S ince the

III6Ih there lin b een a P ro l(\t :ln I community of ~ fcw :>cCb scuncrcd

I hr uu ~h "u l I lk ." L..:'~nI_ la rg ely [ he r c,uh o r the Im per ial cornpenuon fur

.1

convertv unt l con,l,tu<m, tn lhe 01l0n1;O" Empue , ,........'pall) I n S y na .

Lcbunun, anti p .. levune. In ume 01 unJro.,.c .he...: "U"lrc~"ut.lft~-

Prc,t>yteri.n. Ep,,,,;uJlahan. 8 ;1 p1 I't . '" " ",, 11a,,, iL-w Ulhr.:..-""'I'Un. ...

the ir own identities an d traduions , lhelr IMn m,mutlOll'. III 01 ... hreh.

","houl cxcepnon, played an hononohlc n.I".I\:II,,, r ul e I lu nn ~ !he per-

"oJ .. t Ihe Arnh f tcnal "an, -c R"u~hly '' '' '' hlm,h,..1.nJ tr n 1 1 \ : . " , I~II:I..he very . .. :.1m.:1:lJfUp:..... anti Anlol.:rk';I1~yJ1lI l...i~ U I l< .J L hurl h ·~unh'''''I'''''

""" haLl aU lh "' II I. :t l a nt .! mdeeu ~u't:llll\;oI II", ".,Iy """""\'If) eli,,",hall "'~"n"Li"",d lhe maucr. II haLl h " : , ,, " , ,, , L I " . r I... 111<;'"lhal I:.......rn

Chr;'I,.nily Wd' n;:aHy con,IIIUlcLi I - ry the UnhoLluA Church In"",

'" tuch. it should be noted. the ovefW"clm,n~ rtl:IJonty of coo~ru ID

Pr tnestam ism carne: the nlnc~nlh cemury rn,uoonanc. _re 1O CaI1)'

unsuccessful IR convening eimer Musilm~ or J ews. Now_ in me I~.

the Wcslem pnocipals of the A r ab P ro o: cS la n( communities _re ~

e ou mS '" !! I he ir a co ly re s [0 r e i u r n 10 Ih e G =k onhodo. laid T1Icre

"US t al k o f w il hd no wi ng f in an ci al ,uppon, 0( d is ba nd '" l1 m e c hu rc ha

J nd s ch oo ls , of . in a 5CIISC, cancclling the wholc I h' "g . T 1I c mu .1 O II U )'

authoriues hall madc a rrustake 100 yo::an a~ o IR ~nnll ~m

Christlans from the: main church. Now thqr ,hooJd flU "-k.To my c le rg yma n f ri en d !h is wa s O J caC lC ly~m ic e> enlU I I li l y, a n o J

lIere it not for the genuinely aggncvtd >en."bilily in",r~ o ne c ou ld

""' e ,onsiuercoJ the whole mailer a Juke. .~ cruel JOLe. but ~ . J O U

n on el he lr :, s. W h at s tr uc k m e mOSI strongly. h~r ..... .u I .h r : ~ III

'rI hie h m y rr icrKI pm his argum ent: this WRli w hal he wu here PO S8) ' 10

h i , ecc le s ia s ti c al principals. H e c ou ld u ndc l1i Wld the _ ctocm.I

pomt ~lng put forw ard nOW. thai modem ecumemsm hMI ~ CO ••

the direction of dl,~nIYIR8 small 5ecI.S anr .. l J lrC5CrYlng lhe dum_

c omm un it y, r at he r [han .n encouraging lha.! ~ Ia J n1maJn Indrpea-

J~nt Irom the main c hu rc h T ha l)'O u t :ou Jd d l!I CIJ M B u . 1 _hal .aned

hurrendouslj' ,mpcriali.1 nnd belonged en"~ly 10 l he r nl m of J C C 1 I I a r

rnterpretauon, he , . , d , w as Ihe lotal dl.regan:l WIth whreh 0Yn' • cctt-

IU!} o f A r ub Prutc,tanl experience w... ,imply 'rCI"IIIChnl l i lT . . . Ir it ....

n< \tr ha ppene d. W hui they 0 . 1 0 not seem II I rcahae, m flr .veI~ ..fleaN

lII~n(j lalLl me, I. Ih., while __ "" Ih.;, <"un""n' I I I I r < l 1M... "'. _.

,,~ huvc been Iheir par tners for well over y ,~nIUry We '- I I1ISIN

them und our own expenenee. W e ha~e clcvr loprd our _., 1MqnC)'.

"noJ II\"I~d our ow n A rnb P mle ~lanl idenuty within OUf l~. bullllO

r.",krn hl~lory which we con Ider I be an ondc~ndent ont~ How eM



ED\\IIRI) W SAID

Ih< : " " , U'UI the 1I",,,,l~ the) made ~ century ~go could be reeufied

wJ., " :l .. 'Iml~ "I Ih" pen III New )orl or London, leuv'"8 u, "b~o'

fUh,.·J"."~N ncrc ~

y . .. . " ,I I " V , , ' Ih~1 Ih" lou,hin!! >Iory concern, an experience of

",lonl ..I",,, 11 • . . . 1 . : up ",,~nll:lll)' 01 'ymp.lhy a nd u f co ng ru en ce, 1 11 )11

,,,,wg,tlll>n1, n . -- .c n cmen l. o r resisrancc. Tile appeal by one of t he p os t-colunuJ pJnl':, ".~ 10 tile w l . ..e o f a m ut ua l e xp er ie nc e, T ru e t he re has

~-.:n " prln,'ra ' .. nJ .. vubordinate, hUI t he re h 3r .} b ee n d ia lo gu e um J

,""UII ..II.. :'I..~', Wh.1 yp u ~u n > < : , ; ,n 'h e >1",'1 i" I t hi nk, t he power 10

,M : fVC. or [\.I \Ii, .Ihhu'd. :.uentlQIl !l P'l 'NCr uueriy esseR''?t tg i 'AtcI=pKta-

IIII~ . The ,mph,"" ar omen! made the Western mis-

" " " " r y .u'"unll", w ., Ihul e Ar.lbs g ou en so me th in g o ut of what

Iw d ~"[I !!".:n rhcm but we , th e givers, wen: now pulling OU I Their

pumt > C e m . . - . I 10 be Ih at i n s uc h a r ela tlo ns hi p o r l u st o r icu l d epen den ce

,,1IlI...u bo nli na tr on , a ll Ihe giVIng w enl one w:I)" the YI I lu e WI ! mamly

on o~ ,Iue. r i l< :ues _r e s ig ni fi ca nt o nl y Illi they be ne fined the recipi-

ern, And 50 r nu lu .l ic y w as c on st in mv el y i mp os si bl e,

ICI~ thl> 10 b e • pa ra ble about the: area of anention, m ad e g re at er

o r I C> lo CrIII ,iz c, m ade more or 1~5 equal in value if not in qUllilY,

fum'''''-''' In r In lCrpl '\ t 'l~ lion by r be p cs r-c olo ni al s im ar io n M Ihll' Iua

1011.,..,,-.1 lrom the colonial e nc ou nt er . T he irneltecrual im pom ll iv e h er e

~~f"o III be clear , al least 10 me, 50 I needn't embellish h.

Tbe >o:~ ond sc be rnane poir u I WlU1I 10 mike can abo be made by

eum plc. O ne orthe canonical topics of modern inrellectual history hu

been th e developmem of d om in an t d is co ur se s and d is ci pl in ar y t ra di -

lion. in the r oam f ie ld s o f s ci en nf ic , soc ,a1 o r cultural m qu ir y. ~

any c.\Ccpliun5 th~1Iknow 0(, thc: ~nldigm! (or this toptC hive been

dlllWn [rom w~ c;!I .illtered cAchu,vel9 WEStern s o u r c e s . FOucault's

IOOrt._!Lu"l" mWOCc.nJ ldJa~nllli, in anorhirdom&ul,Tsltaymond

Willi",",). I m er ni on these tW O formidable s ch cla rs b ec au se in the

ma-;;~n ulmo~t loul ~ymparhy WII~.their genealogical disccwerjcs

1 0 . ..hld, I a m m es nr nob ly indebted Y el fo r both of Ihem th e colonial

CI.PCrlcn.:c I)<lUll~ IfreleYanl an d thattheorttical ov rsj hi has bCcome

t he no rm HI a ll c ul tu r: ;l l a nd selenl! Ie I lClpJine~cl.cept in occYSlonal

~u(he"::::m l f i . : . . h h l o r y o j an llw .t p olo ~e JnhDnoe~ Fmbian 'Sbool

Trlllt' UI,J lilt" 0,11,., a nd T ~I~ I A s ad 's tlmltropolo,,,' Qlld th » C o ll 'm w /

£1II'f}f/Il/U-Or the developrnenr of sociology, such as B riun Thrne(.

bo t . . . Mun u,kl l it ,. fJ,J o/Ontnllllllm. Pan of the im pulse behind

"hat I trred 10 do In OntfHa/.rm was 10 ,how the de~ndt:1ICC 0( WhM)

.ppea.-.U (0 b e d er ac he ~a nd a po l'l Ic aJ c uh ur al <h~lphllC'S upon ~ qu~ V",rd,d huiory of rrnperiahst I de olo gy a nd c olu n, alr n > c:u le _n r

BU I I w ill c on fe ss Ihal I wa s a ls o cons cl ou~ l y ' rying 10 Cl lp r es s

Jn~cr al t he consohdated W llII 01 deli lah. Ihal had boen bu,ll a1Vlllld

p ol ICY s tu di e s p as si ng Ihe~I~5 afr Rli u"",u'UnM:rs .. 1 M: bo I& rl y en-r c rpr i se s . Wha lever effect m y b oo k a ch il!V e U ""OUldnot haW !l \opp:1lCd

IIJlJ there nm a l," bee n !r Om e reaume" on the pJn ,,' ~ )'IlU!Ij!<:r p!""'......

Ihln u l scholar», hen: and In 1M f orm cr ly cul . .nw:,J ,. .. r IU, 10 ... .., •

rresh look ut therr own colleeuve h"lary. ~'P'~ t he : a: ri m nn y and

rccrirninauorr, rh~1 have fo l lOWed such cllon", m any 'mportant 1 e ' I ' -. mn ur y w or k> have appeared M ost of th.:m ~n: Y:JJu.ablc b..=gY¥' &ky

gel beyond Ihe rei lied polanllcs of-!he E ,a,r v >. W C1 0lk , lI l I . .and IQ . ..

unloCllltlhg WJy ( fi ey a tt em pt s om e g r... p 01 t t l e hctcrugencuuL!,fId

no~~sY ilcIlm rm Il!1lff ilsiQ~n\~~IICd ~MX Id-

hl,LOn:tns," like Wallerstein, LS well as the colol1la! One ll la lt 5lS. ~

examples II IS won Iim em ion in g ~ te r etan's ;n;.ri on ~ ls~; I'ODD

01 modem cap i ta li sm in E gypt , or Judith Tucker's r es ea rc h o n E c 7 P -

u sn f am ily a nd vi lla ge SllUclure under !he innucllC'C 0( i mp er ia li sm .. o r

H a nn a B aU lt u's I1lIIgislerilll w or k on l h r : : fom>:l!inn 0( modem . . .we iltll.-

Mians in th e Arab world, or S , H , A .law ', g re w Mud)' o r 1M MyrII aflilt L o : : y Na/;'.". Bu! there are dozens mo~ such 1IIOf'b, all a{ whicb

characterize interesting mtellr:cttul n:searcb lhal ;.. , o c I f : : C l! B c io o al y )

jlOSl-coloOlal. Nm su rp ri si ng ly . _ g re at deal of this is casc III IItmD '"

bOrrowed t rom and conducte d ....ilhin the de ba les ~ o.poeru rrl

moderruzation, dependency, Ind Marxisl theories of poII-co4oaiai

developmem.

Ye l few w or ks ha ve dealt wi th wllat I Slid e.rlieT _ • _

c om pl ex f ie ld , the R enulog), of contem por ary rulr ur e and I C I e o I o & YOn e of the m ost n OO Dle I nd r ec en t has been ~ LS yeI unpubIisbed

"ork of I( COIUmDII doc/or al srudem f mm India, hervlf a tmnai pro-r C I! io .n al s ch ol ar a nd leacher of English Iueraiure, whole bnlllUll h. Jt on ca l a nd c ul !u l'l ll re ~e ar ch bu, I think, UIICO\"Cn:d rb e poIilic81

ungins of modern EngJi!1l studies, a nd l oc a te d them in th e 5Y_ uf V.UIOniKI e du ca uon impo se d 00 nal i>' t5 In nllltlC'e1llil celWl)' I nd . . , A

gr~uldeal about Gaur i Vhwanathan's worlo :h I lS unusual 11IIrtal. buI die

.~ nl nlJ p om t sh e seems 10 be m ak .J 1I 8 I I I ha l .. ..ha I ha s COI'I ' laII io.I ly

t > . : ~ n lh oug ht of ali a d is c'plm e c re at ed cnllrel), by and for BNish J U U I I I



I'DW·\RO \\ S \11),,

, ., ,, l if>! <:fC"'CJ I ' ) " cu lo nlu l a dn um su at or s " " t he I~ co lllg )c al ~ dli "j '

111'11.mJ r.:·li"'II~III'n 0 ' a po't:n1lully rcbdlll'u> Ind ia n pop ula ti on. a nd Ithen unplln.:J Inll) Ihe lucrrnpuhlan center lor oJ v\,!:~ different hUI re-

lal.:J u...: .h.:rc The evidence. I thmk. I> incoumwcrt iblc u nd r cr r es h-

IOgl)" d':a' .. , uauvrsru. one c'pcclall) besening hobble of 111(1,1

p''''...,iI..ru..1 " . . rk. Mml imponam theugh. Ihi> kllld of slud), map, oUI

," 'much lII"rc v ar ied an d m ter tw in cd ~ rc hc olu lI ), f ur k no wle dg e I Vho , ~

" , 'l Uah lOc . I lc consrdcrubly b el ow i he s ur fu cc huheao u ss ur ne u 1 0 be t het r ue ' C~ ll lf \ :. ant! ' o! .I :l u al i. y. ' O f " ,h a . we s .u d) , a s l it er at ur e, hislo!,)'.

culture, a oJ r 11 l1 'O so ph y. T he rr np licar ions U ri! V"u.sl indeed and, once

allam , p rov ide the benefi t o f pulling us aw ay f rom r outi mzed polem ics

on .he "'per,or ity of Weste rn over non-western mod!!ls.

My vCI)' ",1 point is simply made, There i s no way of dodging Ihe

r . . . : . lha t th e: p re se nt i de olo l! ic al c on 'u nC lu re i, d ee pl y m h os pi lD b lc : '0

the allcrnaliw n n le le cl u . .1 war' at ave en CUSSing,

Thcn:~ rom !he p~ssing lind urgent calls many 0(U5

respond III l rom emba tt le d causes an d t ur bu le nt f ie ld s of battle. Never-

r he le . .. . : . re"sr.anl , per ha ps ultim ately subjecr lve , com ponem of oppo-

,,[ional .:n"rgy n;,jdCll i n t he i nt elle ct ua l vocation i t se lf ', a nd il i.~n

Ih,~ .ha. "no: has 10 rely, par t icular ly w hen collecuve energies seem

1 I1 4r ..llyh ~m .:" ,. :d 1 0 m o ve me nt s f or d er nm au on a nd coercion, A nd \ !o~

.hould no . be 100 oplimis.ic about s.nnding up 10 them ,

N~J tN !I c,...nbwton,C',.Wlttrnl Jff.MI1 putr JJ

uf AI~", C...p . .' T1 Ik " r ~ hi. pubhshed ~nklu I n w ti U lU , Spunu.h l.anCU.'e' Journ:,dlo un

~ In A IIk' Ik ." :l n 1 tr -: "~ IU tl :. 5..... aiM) r t la , ;h r : :a Sparn i .h b.nM:WI~C anrJ h lcr .I tI ,I fe ' :at S k . .. rJ1l.IfC

C.~k,.. JOH'" LUKACS i••I!>o, o r n o . WI Eltmpran 14h, O,"8"" ..n, IHm..

nlf r, IIn/unt.r1 G1IIJ(ffJ"$flI'H. A Nf1t" Huwn ti/IIII" CulJ fJttr :11..1 uther buoh. Hi,!

'e.AIM.·~hl,\ lu,y 3i C"'~"lnUI HIli C'II~~( . JAMES MILLER .'\ .nilhdr nl HUMurr

1_",,",. r I-n", J,.,t'l til M('rl~uu Am,,' . .n.J , R" " . ..U·Uit. /)rrll;lirf "/ D,."",. 'til'

WIRi lY NACHMAN" PM •• . . , . . oj 1'1.01".:• 5<i."" e a, 1110:C"II .~ . ' " SUI.n l,l,nJ( "U ! " l" . .. . ~ . " , h " , I . , ( ur 1h o;n mln g b on k u n F ",u ~· . T . ..." ") oj C U "" , , , . CO'>OR

CRU ISE O 'BR IE f 'o l I) .uJlhor of H+iltrJ UI1J AJ/r/rn. MllnJ"'''uJ A " , . , .1 1 . .n. d OIh cr " 'T l f l.

H" I'lIMiIo bu..~ I'n 11or~111Inurh:d 'nIt' Sff ", ,. ,, , . WJLLJAM PFA fF h~~ wrurcn '"Rdl,,,.II'1Ib u n p ul nu • •d ULlIk:U r O o ( nI t Nt"tt ~rLrl lao.nee:li n l.H i J b oo ks rnctude CmJdf"J".,f''';

/n Frr:'rJuHI, n ' t " Pt4lfrt"J Q / H)J.ltna .n..J Ptntn' ww / /"'pml',rut. . E DW ARD S AID b

P".UTPr\lt..., .~ 01 Luenluft ~I Columbll Umver,I'" H e' IS 'l.nhor o r B"NJrrfTh~,¥.J.Onrll-

1<11"," .""" , runhcumlnl boIlk "", 1 ' : 1 1 "" " "" , . GEORGE STEINER" Pro{",, ,, , ,NCom""".,,,. L,,,,,,,ur< . 1 lh oc Un l . . ..nllr ,of G e T J < " Y I I .nd F<I I. .. " Chu,oh ,1 I Co l"itC;lruhrNJ~"C Unl" . . . .. .uy HI : 1.1~uloor o•. ~ft.·r &1",1. In Bltft'hf'Q"r, C ru ,l" , umtilUJJtI Uri..

!ii/nl,' t..Unt'j·rn,,'f'wi. On o .f fi cu il l. AIIN" Dr""WI n , l ' P"r1t1xr IU S an CnJlohu!.",

.../I .IIkJ IIk~ l \. " \. t. :R lh ,-1,,,..,(""1') J 0 W'LKtNSON j "'y, (I 'k ;, , o il HarV'..mJ";. C - : n t t ! ' r

kK Eur.,p.:;m 5Iuc1I1,;. . H~ n, IUlhnr 0( The frtft/fr"f,tfJI R,.~iS'(JIfn· [IJ Eurupr

The Intellectual in thePost-Colonial World

Response and Discussion.

Panelists: Cnnor Cruise O'Brien, Edwanl Said. John Lukacs

O'BRIEN: I .hink we're much indetned tn Edwurtl Said fill' a larrc

r et ro sp ec ti ve o n t ho se m au er s which have pruUUl 'cJ presem ,itlQliuns,

I w ould like '0 II)' 1 0 s up pl em en t a nd c om pl c'm en l- an d I mUSI 3reel i. is v cr y n ec cu Dr y ~""·ha. saId-by

I. '1g. IIIc mQn: direci y a I ot J r annl tunc~ . .. r ~ubjccl. '"The I_I.

l ec ii ra l i n th e P t " " "-I stress "Posr-" -O.I"ni .1 \\\..>rId. Wha. W\:'1o'Ie

h ea rd m os. nooul here is I h e p re -co lon i ul "'Urld. I d on 't d i~ pI Il Ct he ,

r ele va nc e of that to the other, BU I I'd li ke 10 coreem rate in my _n

remarks on 201h ccn.ury de ve lopm ents. on I hc r ole md position of

:n!ellecluals bolh in In c d~oloniza.ion proce5~ an a in I he po:.H:oloaiaJ

Mrla. Ed_iii na s had w ry lillie 10 ~y iibolHhlJ'W mldicctullls now

~ow they e xp re ss t hem se lv es . whal I reedom .t ley have. whal they

"r(. I w ould like 10 h ave a look i I ' thai '011. B UI I W.lJlI 10 ~ g'n w ith the

," pc cla li on s o f intellectuals in the inilial period ol,i.:coloniUlion, A nd

I ..,Ime trom that country which .....> liN in th e pm"","" III' "'-"l.'~uma-

r .o n, u n I rc lu nd whu,.: c! l: . Implc in 1 '> '21 . . . .. . .. .i o he full,-.'" by nJanY in

loJla, E l!ypt an d other places,

\\'h~t d id pe ople e xpe ct ? lr ue llec tu uls. I hr ou gh ou t .h al w ho le ar ea" ihe lormer colonial world. ~eJ 'u ~ the inher i lo r.J 01 t h r i r

~"'" I) hberuled c ou nt ri es b ec au >e . h. :y had bc~n .he .halle (') the

",I ra gevernrne " e peep C W (I t~1 challenged Brlll~ or

Fr~ndrj5Qwer w ere im ellectuals: teacbers , w ri ters, publicisu, I all

T :' II _ ' rhl.: ",'\JItC'u INn . .. ..'r1f" of I pt.11C1 l,h~u,.",UI'I t.:IJ 31 .st....1~J" CUlI~ _ AprIl

l'Ift~



( " "o R C Rt I ~I II II KI "" E ll'IH R I.l ~ ...r o. IUHN LUI (A( '~

Ih,:01 IIIll:lkdUJI, n . . . : . ~ U . C Ihey wen: people whu used concepts. who

~...:u""nh .• ind "hI> used thl."~ 10 challenge the Imperial power. prm-

<JP~ll} tinC Jlu Jud Fr ance , k.nuw lng Ih.1 Ih.:y hud un echo lor their

"111'.1, an.J LO"' ,Cpt> In, London an d 1 0 F 'd ri ., . • 00 know ing thut b.!C3U'~

I h.: y h ,,1 1 I hm ," 'h ll I hc y w .: rc r es pe . ... rc d In their m unlfy. They w ere rhe

'p"k"'' 'IL''n lur lheir pcuple, It "a., un mlll,kaling rule. und " >1Ih:n,hJ

t .mc~ a_... lun~ .J.,." lC l: . . . .ed,

V~0 .. I tcn Ihew peuple knew less about rhe, actual conditions in

Ihc lll,.. n ""unlr i", Ihun they ),;ne w about the curr ency of ideas learned

rrum b o • • I.." "hid w er e c ur re m in Weslcm Europe 81 the lime. They

Ihough Ih:.t ....h.m th e Brui.h or the French Drthe Belgians ... .r e gene.

their J . :~ "C )! " " ,u l d be ....hal ha d always been denied them before, an

o:nl'lIhll:n,'d "nr lJ. Democracy, for example. 11IIdnot been shared. The

B ri ll,h .. 0< 1 Ihc French. who were democrats in I he ir o wn c ou nt ri es .

were IlOldemocrats in their colonial adrninlstration. A nd those who

were :.Iruggling ag~inst them assumed rbe natural cevelopmem of dem-

ocr-~til.· IcntJ.:n.:ies in t he ir d ec ol om z ed c ou nt ri es , along wilt! In c conun-

ualioo 01 thin!:, lIke f reedom of express ion, . .nd lhe rule of law.

50 In.:- culonia l powers withdn:w. And how did Ihey ....ithdraw?

p- .nly by haflding over ~r 10 intellectuals. Sume o( these Jntelleciu-al\ wet.: wh..l Chri!.lupher I...asch h.....called "Voice of Reason" inlel,

leelU"I,. ~r"'Jl~ es~enlially associutcd with the srarus quo. or ) V

n :1 ;l IW.: Jy . ..un.....:ry.. rive inlcll~ua ls like Leopold S enghor In S enegal.

B U I t he re "'-en: also "Voice of Conscience" in tellectuals, persons who ./

dairrk.'1.l 10 be ..peaking for the poor and the underdeveloped and the

nppre.loCd. Ihough deSiring in many cases simply 10 win power (or

rhem>elvc. :lnll Ihcu cronies in the lI4r1Ie of :III that, Typically both

Iy~ ul IIIh:lkclU~ls became involved in th e first phase of decoloniza-

rion. Then Ih~re ~ ihe second wave. wherein !he eli te thai had won

UII: !:Ie.:tiun~ could only survive if ir satisfied the m ilitar y. A t least

Ih rou J:h uu l m e",1 o f the dccoloolzed world. Ihu was th e phase of the

m ilitaf ) L "U U p , when Ihe soldiers came in and sard 10Ihe in tellecruals.

,.Clwllerbous, ,hili up." Afld they either 5hul. up or else Ihey wem

U IIIO the rJdios a nd the press of the decolonized world, and said w hal

the soldiers " 'oImed, or W hBI the dictators wanu:d. )

We do nO I always like 10 remember Ihls aspec t of Ihe dec oloniza Vl io n p rD I. ·e ~\ . b U I If we are going 10 talk about the post-colonial world.

we can'l for~O:II I The source o r all the evi l we've heard ~boUI was nOI

ju", In I..lInllllo or f'-Jm . T he e vi l In \II many " Il ll ul io n) h a! t i ls huurcc IR

Ih~ h ea rt o f h um an b c'! !g s. whenevcr Ih.:y h ~v c a n :ILIV:JnI:lg.::~f

Ih~y wrsh eo u.c Ihal advantage against t h u- . e . ..hum In...,. ""'Y be able to

domiiiii.lc. Now . we h e« ,a ri "a g ro up 01 ov~rwhelm",gly WC;em-ba1ed

Inl~u;;!'. We're not going 10be able 1< 1 ~h.ngc ail th:d (lUI (hue.

BUI J do Ihlnk one or IhUCSPl1osibili"C' Ib.1 we have is oot IIImmanIJ·

CIZ. whal i, happenong, n(>l 10aven our c ,I rllm dllllllur;J; •.• I m m

utte"'P"i1y ,wI!s, ;:1 1"E~Ien a II' nn l ""E!ZRine; I lived tor Ih~ e ar s: -t n G n a n~ c . u . . . . FKa-tlLwed liii "'w _ _ a~ ~ to th e C o a & P : I

,pe~iimc in N iger ia. Like many or u ..... h en w e In.'·cl. I was In

l O i i f f il n e r e m a . _ n r y witfi·inlclle·i:iua~s.:..-";ii~:.i~_I?pl_e_ .. ho leach O t

'Hiiel' iirpufllicalion. All of those I mel were far less unhappy ~

c o! or ua l r eS i du es and the ba d lhaugtus of people in london or Paris or

~cw Y o rk I h. n with the silu&eion they were cunnuJy li"iOJ ""'" AM

Ihey had reason ..0 rear Ibl' 5iruQlipD .1 onp point cgm'nLirvm

GllaOlI, in Nkrumah's t ime. I used to "isi l Ih c UnlVCfS l lY inNilffia .•

u ni ve rs hy b ui ll up essentially on imernarional COMO I id au or u. . 1 1hid

never been ! i er i nu~ ly h o no r ed in the culnnL:i1 period. In Iho: i m m c d _post-colonial period there w as probably m ore respec t l"of il z a uni\O Cf-

,ily than there had been, But on the verge of rbe Nl~ cj" il _ . th e

entire universi ty was cracking span on tribal l inc:! l . T lu I t is w YI!. 1MY oruba in the univcr~ ily w er e S <.Iying. "the Ill., ar e hllm bk:. Icl"~ gel

them O U I. lei's IhRlw t he rn b ac ;k . I I) w he re l ho .') ' ~ il .m e Irul1l." A n & ! 1 kll

terror in Ihal place. al the lime. t:llking ... .ll"lI ll<! r~milK.~of lhe: prop Ic

who ....ere in danger of death. Now I refuse 10 say. ",ilh t he J ea n)

K lrkpalr icks of thc world, "the whole world is rl:"ening 10 barbariJrn. V

we alone pr eser ve civitiza tion," T ha t is f alse; rher e an: seeds of rc:nrwal

10 the pest-colonial w orld, 6S everywhere. bul if ~ _ t e l l tbe pcoJIIc

t he re Ihal there's nOlhing wrong, if we fall even 1.0 hlOl thai Ih c re

JI': - S ,a er e n~ ~yrann~s. It we hu l 10nsen \ h & l !hosyre"rOIIg,wem-ihei lTCii ing' ow n Ie p e1 1p lc ""ho ! L V I : under Iho5c lilt-

. l ~ ; = ~ 1 i g l ~ ~ : .~v E l

~ e : o P l e t h u mII 13

W Iuty Iy SUiIjj.t.

~n 4---(c. lit 1 m. SI ed. i < : ' 1 du ~ have a c< :c u I D. flU

pre';;,: thdi! IS no ircedom of expression. Thrs is crnatnly trw 1Or_

. If A f r tc a . and Ibelieve it' s t rue fo r most of eh e midtlle cut. If - p-uo ve r t he se conditions in sil ence, we are in breach of our lapomibili-

U~>

LUKACS: r want 10 return 10 w hat Edw.ml Said said in passing !Iboul

tb e w ri te r V .S . N alpu ul A m J I w an lU l Illl- I: l.:J .u:p ti lln llllh o...c n:maru.

# ....... " •• -



/ \~ll"lul " J h:r) IIIh:'':~lIng rhm kc r. ~nd ':'III"""r) til what Mr. Suid hus

"'-l,J II,' J...', '1"1 \1 ritl! Jflr or am!.:r Itl \!t",I,·rn illldl.:ctual.. NUlpuul

/ ...·r.I.:' .. '"': nglhlr prose, bUI II i~n.lI h., >1\I~ alone Ihat makes him

( ,. "u. ;h an unuxua! wruer Unli lo.... nI'''1 other 1;ucIlectuals, parllcularl~

Ih'l~ lrum c ":,,I,II\lal countri.:,. NUlpJul i,nil ' a strulent collector u r'"JU,II'':'' III I~,·l. he t.:J,tlgale, ' "1 11 ~ I II the <h l· . ..otoniul countrie»

111.:111,.. .. .1,,·, II.: " 1 1 0 : ' n.lI "'nit.: DU ILl a i.L nln~

111111111". III Ilk ,lr.:.:I, h.:,nc Jin . " ". rm c m u b ei ng I .'I Illc l'I CU .

Ihuu!!, " \ ,uu, \ '~I' nnl ah,l\c 1I1lIll'ing ,ul.'h Ihin;;~. Hi;P;';n':-'Pal

l 'u n! ,; J; rI I " nu' "'lihljjiu,rr.:l!~ ur....iJl~lJc .:~_b.uL'"illl l r;t tAo.He i~notbOlhcn:d .. ~ Illu"h by Ih'l!-';;'evll.hmce of injueuce as by the prevalence of

untruth H . ..I..deeply concerned w ith the r het oric of those who addnm

puhlrc ,,,11<:,. And h ... w ishe thi ll nol onl) 11111...,Ea,lc rncr, but abll

Illure We,l.:mcT' were concerned w ilh [he ethil', of rhetoric. I kc au ~ . ..

Ihi , i, Inc filial ,iL'i ;nc" of i ntellectuals in the W~SI, 100. They ar...

u b! IC~M :J wu h IIl)U>lICe bUI ure rprcvalcncc 01 untruth, nouiulc cun-

,cr~d wuh the only in Ugand~ bU I on American televlsion an d in

)(line "enlightened" journals of opinicn. There hangs over our 'Mlrld a

lillhy. p"IIUIIRl! cloud o r u nt r ut h. And in Ihis respect, I person like

Naipaul ~houlJ really meri t ni l of our respect , because he IS consumed

by the ca . .y acceptance of lies in our society. by t he p r op ag au on oi

c al ,'h . ..,lrus and formulas.

WILLIAM PFAFF' I have a quest ion aboul M r. O 'B rien's rem ark>

rel1ardin:; t he r ol l! of ( he i nt el le ct ua l i n t he p re -c ol on ia l period. I I s eems

10 me I ha l I her e'~ u p oi nt of dim,ully. whlch M r. S ilid d id nOI address

and whi.:h IS central 10 t he p oi nt of the post -colonial inlelJeclualJ!liL

I,I hl! p rn hlo :lI I u l (OnVerSIOn, The Ihird world intcfJcclU al. Ihe A sian

Inldl;::l'!uJI. Wd' a vlcllm of r:ulluro.ll conversiun. i i 's nm enou h 10 ~a}

luera-

,~n~~:~e !><:C.C'tIlIOOay. lhallJK \ 'OCIbu.

J.ry 01 th e Ihlr.J Iionfilill ~ how s a IcnJcn"-l In po-e pr obJ.:m ., In m .:I..nguage of the WO:,I-of Mar~ism, so.:iah.n,_ democracy, So the r : . . . - : t \ VI, Ihal the Wc~..:rn agenda, so 10 spcuk , " ibe "¥I!n<la 01 Ih.: ~t-).olonial w orkr , w hether i l likes It or nu!

A second r eact ion 10 th e WC~I, w hich ... c >co: h.oJay in I r.m . .. lhe" v~ltCIIIPI 10 m uv e I .'u mp le le ly a . .. ..I)' t r orn the W,,,I ,,11<1~ o h al- k I .. IhI : nld)

.11 ihzuuou ,,' a> I" r eu ni mar e i l. i"I:rh:lp' '('al wnH1~, bul I J..,'I -.x

Ih" ,olU li lln a-, :. vi able line: you cann l~ III'': In llh: Illnuc rn " " " , 1 0 . 1 in

Ih,,,.; terms Perhaps yuu can CUI yuur. ..:!! "II lrum lhe mu<lern ... . ,rl<l.

Ob'·'01.l5Iy (h e desrrable soluuon would be un intelhgcm 5yn~ i5 n(

"hat i s g OU t J In the W~st and whal i......1110.1n (he old c iv ili za uo o. 8 41 1

Ilo hu uy , c e rn , T Il h av e achieved Il1i.. ,n iI. n:,dly hirlant.'L"l.I wo .y. Any"".. , ..

i l 'CCIl lS IIIme wrong III c.JiM:u" t he 1 '~ .o1< .' 1I I " ' l ern" , . .I IhI: agl;fl"""'1f!

,II the We,l. or the defense uf Ille t hi rd .... ,rld. JU,I a.'>-herc I arfl'l! ,.,ilh

\Ir. Said-i l', w rung III lalk about i t In Ih.: Irrulllph:.h'" la"l.!ua~", II( lhe

\\~>!. i.e.. "wc are righl and s ee I hu t l l1 ey 'n ,: all b ,ub"n; II I'. n :' VCn in c

III savagery," We hnve here a quest ion of rhc collision of civilizations,

.tnd if. not a sim ple maner , It i s li n especially grave problem f O t " seci-

~ I i. :s wh ic h ha~e had their ow n f or midable cultures, like Chi"" IlId

1,lam. cultures which have been undermined in crucial '*11)'5 by the

impact of rhe We;,!. They're lef l today wi lh much in rums ~nd nul much ) Vreconstructed, This seems 10 me the main di lemma 0( post-colonial

III~.

S"\ID: I [hl_nl!,..'hat M r, Pf af f p U l S i t y c rywe ll . t l " f i o m g P2:Ssibililin i Q I...a~· I f ind p c:r su asi vl!:. B ut Iraw quir e diff erent io~,ghlS f rom all 0 1 '

this. I t h in k . hr~1 o r a l l . the sche li e at tempt 10 l .I IJ k . .bout th e posc.

; ll io ni al d il emm a :u. i f i l we a s i ng~h ing . Ih" " ", me L hl O !'PCn,

In I nu la lh al happened in ger an e >\!w ere, I~ na y appropn·

~I"', There are ,imilarilie~ of II. ce rt ai n k in d. bUI those ~n: ~ally no . !he

:mal!~lln!! II~PC:CI,!, Thill's the first poirn I want 10 mike. 1 1 M ! ~

~,"n1 is [hm 1 ' 1 1 1 not sun: i f i n faci the b re ii .L l: l: 1we en lh s: c ul on i; a1 and

;l"'['liolonml period is Ihat ~I . Look-at t he r elu li or u. b er we en A lg er ia

.nJ France. I suppose the nes could be closer between these counlne5.

['1.11he lies between them are nonetheless impressive. and Yt1lI1h con-

.:Jwng.



t 1'1.011 In: I I "Ium ~ I 11\\ \KII '"IU JOHN LUKr\l ~

v

cpt"

""The Imp;! 1J,IL 1M W e· :.

A I om ' poml. Plln 0 1 ' th e post-colonial inlclleclURl's agenda

5iMIUIJ be 1 1 1 k ... II Ide (he immcdi:ue polilics in which \Io'e'n:: al l

c : n a : . . g t.'Il ... na .'I l IU undc:Btani. I th e n alu n:: o ( Islam , for example. ~

!Il1IToo:lhm not Ofi rUAll ly defined by the p cI '\ Ie r s r h ar be Ihal an: Inlcr·

nlCt.l In II only lI.i. bears upon WeslI:m sccurily. Isn't 'there ancther

u·.KlIII"n hcl\!. r I I\;u b ee n h id de n IIKI invisible 10 the scfUllny of

IChol:Jn ih ped b) II I dominanl We5lem lradillons? Take: for example

C h c whol e: n ou o n 0( Oriemal despotism. There 's been a l ot o f n :~ :lr ch

lalrl)' un Illl~. bu r . h c actual model is df tply nD wed. Th e mosl interest-

"II pre! 0{ 1M post -C' olon lal I n te l lec tua l' s Jo b ilnot in th e an::na of

combid, W h.1I " most w luable and imcresling uK f necessary IS rhe

mtcU ( 't 1u :! I's ~ sk o r n:~m'"'"llhc i,sues complelely Looking al Iht

IIIW of --religIOn" liS .. c ~u :g or y o r --lndilional society" d oe sn '] m ak e

..... ·n...: au ~ lhe m odel D dopled 11 0 essentially We:olem B~

m hen: ImClIn I parncular, dlS ( 'l pl ll lJ lr y h l, lo ry, Wecan't simpl]

Ilk ow muckls l in d a pp ly them 1 0 o th er c ult ur es u if they were per-

"'r apIIblt 0( doln£ them ju lice.

Thew li n: : ~ kmdJ 0( thin s I 'm inrere It'd In,

/

O'JIIEN JII" In Alpplemt:nllo whit EdWllrd h. SAid I 'd li ke 10 olfer,

'10 WI II . . m Ptarrs que lion. but an r :d uhn Several yt'lr\

)UID J..... I anendcd a conference under th e lu~piCl'!\ 01 th e

Ua.ftll.ry w hich h .. d .he rsrher lrand ntle of .. Endo •

cnou-, Elclll~nl~ In N . . Io "n. ;1 Cu lruec. ' II '";" ;on ,1I..I;on~'t1ftI' ''~; I

"'.b. I '1reve , lhe only European ther.: !:lUI I I PfL"I<",~" a \'ef)' ..,.

('"n~ pecuhuruy There were representau ..... Irom .. 1I."cr ~&II. Iftdia.

P..I..I.wn 8urJrul, ere. The rruere ling po:L"uhar lly. .. . I IDI . lI bo ui h •"a, uboin endo CDOUJ>c:lcl'1'IC:n" In ",-L1111U1,,,."Iun:. a") ~ at .-

rcprevcruauvc-, then:, wuh the e cpI."n "~ I lint: " " I . o n . ' fJO~ Eatlish

. :, c lu~l~el)', Inclul.lJng I~ Chlllt'>C E n !; h'h . .. ... .. lho; lilll~U 0( dw

.:"nlercoLe. u scd t hr o ug ho ut by III O:"'l:l."pt(he Japal'll:'oC. And, 0&:qII

tor the Japanese, the them es of lhe conlnbulon 'M:I'C aboul the IIIIpKI V... th e WC\1. genemlly negalively conccI ¥nI. bul :KIll the VtbI. die

\\;:51.lhe W est The only people whu 1II11o.cdaboul lhe ~

dements el'lllogenously W'Cn::t h e: J lp a n c -. o : They dl ' iCUUcd wt. weft

to outsiders e~tn:mc:ly IlbSlru!I.Ctipech III Ja~ d iver s i( i caI . .. .. .

p"nlcul:lf f iv e- ye ar p en od u r (he late 17 th \:cnIlU') A nd ( 's all Ihcy .I'talked about-they never referred 10 the We I al all, 1bey lpomt •

lotrlily. Iwu s r em in de d of A uden's r:tmou line ;Wclllli . h o e $ph""1 IWIt-

tnll :.I " ' 0 1 ' 1 behind lin vhri ll Amcnca Th a i~wh:'1 l h o . : y ' Jl o\ :1 \: ~ . .. . hili

nobody d:.c Wol'; cvcrybcxly e lse ....&lj lJb!o<.~"'' ' ' ...i lh I r a . : ~ . ~ I .,.

draw your own conclusions.

..U D IENCE ICHARLES MOLESWORTH): I found f,Jwud's ~-

d oJ (c a b ou t t he ml~lorurie5 10 be '1UIIt Ink," II Ktfm 10 me ID

d moment In t he P os t- Co lo ni al e xp en en ce lnal merits rdlec1 AM •

calls [0 mind a very rough •.nalogy "'1111 L h c rcluKllDhip ~

,\larlow and K ulU 's intended. M arl ci'l Ims !hal bar

" he, but in fuCI he tells her Ihe In lhe course of ~I IU s laic.

_ .\ nd i l s eems 10 me . In a s en se . Ihll t ha t 's w ha l J'D 'I r A m en a. E f I D c o -p~r.ans lin! d om g: I I'I II :Y 'e opl lng OUIIlr M ,IIUlilillll by ICm ... _ c a o -11I1' :U whlll tb e colonizer Ihinu the cllillnim.l no.:d au hear ..

th e cotunizer really know whal I g oi n& : u n! I J o o e 3 M !ocs C

r, l I!!



/

lO"UN <:Ill 'ISr , II HHIF.:- , !o1)""'Hl l SAIl) , JOHN LUKACS

I> r~pre.enllng ":J lowl grasp of 'he whole suuaucn. And we 're led '0b.:he •e thai M3rlu" I S Impr r !s sed by the horrendous experience thai

borh he and Kuru have gone through, I don', know if he fell sorry for Jth e A f ri .. :a ns I ha l he saw, bU I al least he reh something. That's why I

Ihlnk Conmd~nre_ inte_~~i11A liS bn impcrialisLltinlLoLco_OKiQl,ls-

01:", He do,:, >oe.:m IU be aW'~reo f s om e a l! cr n. !l .! !v cs , Iho\li1LDOLAILof

rbem,

O'8RIE}l; I mUS I m il dly d if fe r witb you there, EdWJ,Jrl.... . . i.l~

doesn!_:ppea:~ __Il1e_lhaLf'onrad's Heart off!! !.rt'!!.t!~ is in any sense _~_

an impcnalist 5t.alemen!. I I 's c e rt a in ly nO I imperiai is l i n' lt le - s en se of

o f fmng~y :: th iIC1l 'S i "O r "; he L eopol di ne sys tem . II is , o n t he co ntr ar y,

I~on~ w .' ~ [h R og er C ~! oCm en ~'5 = - . very pow erfully, and in all of ils

/ lm p ilC ;ll In n" a n a nt i- im p er ia li st w or k,

LUKACS: I would say thai it's nOl exactly ami-imperialisl, II's I ' C I I I l l y

d ir ec te d 1 00 00 'a rdt he f U li li lY o f i mp er ia li sm .

O'BRIEN: Cer ta in ly i i's o pp os ed 10 th e L eop oldm e s ystem . C on rad1T\il) l bllYC fuvom:l, in o th er lo ca le s, t be m ild er Brjush an d French sys-

terns.

SA ID : C .:ru.inly iI'S true Ihll Conrad-or Marlow-leIs us think Ihal

ir 's f Ulj l~ , Iha l t he re Ir e these terr ible abuses and so on and s o f or th,

A nd ye l I w on de r w he th er IIiaI is a ll ! ha t could be said .boUI Conrad's

view of lmperialism, J t hi nk [ he IW}' in w hich [ he w ork is constructed,

"'ilh a k ind o f em ptin es s and , as M ar lo w says, t he lo ll ll demora li z at i on

of I he g C0 1! r" ph )', r be b ac kw ar dn es s of th e nauves and th e Blacks-II )

does ).t rill to me too simple 10 SII)' of all this. "well, iI', mean t as an

llilad upun impcnulism," Ilhlnk Ihal in many _ys iI'S l in accoun t that

Vprell)' much li ll ll lws the sL andar ds o f a Missioll Civilisatricr ,

O'BR IE N Oh, G ild! Mluioll-Missiolf Civitisatrice?

SA ID : Y o : s

O'BRIEN: Hean uf DarImUJ?

S A ID : Y es

O 'BRIEN: on . God .

Lt.:KACS. A v er y im po n. an l clue in all th i,. If ) 'OU r em em be r, o cc ur s

w he n Marlow starts his trip, an d gels hI, jub rn Belgium (he an d

Baudelaire were the two people who most despised the BelSlIlns): and

he says, "I have 10 SO OU I o f t hi s ho rr ib le country,"

SA l D : A nd YCI he says Ihal th e w on de rf ul t hi ng a~1I th is civilizal. ion,

ou r B ri ti sh o r W e'le rn c i vi li za t io n , i s In:ll it's unlike Rome, in thai. it is

really all about serving an idea. That's the w ay t he s io ry 51an5,

really. , ,

O'BRIEN: Oh. come on , bU I that's turned into u horrible inmy,

SA ID : W ell, i t 's tu rn ed im o I horrible irony, bU I it's also turned illlO

th e basis of 8 p r of ound ly impe ri al is t \\oQrlc.

O'BRIEN: I'll be ~I ickins SIf8'NS in my hair 10 a momcnl,

AUDIENCE : W e may nO I be able 10 agree euclly 00 Conl'Ml' , i '*= l t-

III:ms, bUI c en am ly M ar low is I fa n of British i mp er ia li sm , a llh e opetl-

rng of Heart of Darkness, looking 1 1 . 1 the flag, feeling the warmlh dlhe

colors an d SO forth,

O 'B RI EN : I f y ou saw L eo po ldine im perialism yo u'd liL t B ritish im pe-

rialism 100,

SA ID : Isn't lhul really th e point?

O "B RIE N: Y es, Ihal is the point. Bul were ,p ea ki ng b er e ol quilC:d if f er e nt t lu ngs .

S /\I D: D if fe re nt , yes; bU T were speaking (If imperialism, 1'~ ~r e

Ihal there arc dif ferent kinds of impcr i u li sm. but you hal ve l h e th ing I m

lalklng a bou t w he re ve r yo u read thai there is • kind [)~ inevi1llbihly 10

the white man in the dark world, Of c ou rs e t he re Ir e different kinds vi... hue m en, A s Conor was saying, t he re l in : th e Lropolds, .nd ~ lie

the Kur tzes, and so on, Conrad says Ihal a ll E ur op e wn r i n l O di e

n 1lk in !! o f K ur tz , o f c ou rs e, BU I I I hlllk I h .. t Con rad d iSl inp i !l i la wei)'

1)

/'



C (}:'\O R CR UIS E O ·B IU E~. E l)\\A RD S AID . JO HN LU KA CS

c ar du lly amo n! ; [ht various kind • . W hat I am l>lIying-il seems (0 me

eo comple [ c l. y ob"i~uS:-15 [hat Hran of Dariness is ,,!! 2' o nly a w or k

.boul Imp!!nahsm. II IS a work of i mp er iali .m i lse lf . 11 is a kind of

m, i liT Icd impe ri a li sm, wilh 3Cc rt alD c on scr cu sne s s ,hal C on lJ ld h ad o f

a i trt trn.1 WI>IIPSC I1ll1Imgs wherernc" s up er lu r p eO pr e- ;;~ 1 o -;;~ -~ d

l.:UD4i: f'dJ thc rN ,II (hI! wuif[[ 5\ii i icdiill"' iOTwh~1 they con"JJc~d

III ~cs. and Conrad ,kaJ, with (hem in Nostromo;

wh"'h i, • peal wllrk. Bul i "s i n cvu ab le 'Ihal CV~"Igreal w ork s o f I hullIII>n1ll.:nI ,I,..ulo..l vupport. in :..omc sense. im pcri albm . T her e are criti-

cbnl;. IIflhe .bu~) of particular uuvenlurer.s. But the enterprise ilsclf i s ]presented by C on ra d (li ke Mar.l l bef ore h im ) as. (aj-inevitable, !liven /

!h e r ele va nt h is ur ric ul f or ce s, a nd (b l- in ev ita ble as u nd er st oo d by a

certain kind u r p er so na l m yt ho lo gy h eld by ! .h e a dv en tu re r. w hom h e

pr ofo un dly au mllctl. C as em ent, fo r exa mp le, is also in K ur tz. A n d this

type of man, who !l~s into the other w orld. so 10 s pe ak , is s om eo ne

!hat Conr a d h ad 1 In :: 11 a dm i ra ti on for .

O 'BRIEN: Haw can you . S l y thai C aserrent is K urtz? C asem ent did

no th in g ~ im il . .r IU Wh3[ K ur tz d id . A n d C as em en t e xp os ed , p ub li ca lly ,

the K uruian system .. as C onrad did. H ow you idenlil'y C as em en t w ilhK ur u a bs olu te ly b af fle s m e.

S A ID : Y ou w er e also barned ear lier w hen I said im penalism . bU I you

f in a ll y c ame around 10 m y use of m e word. I believe.

O 'B RIE N: N o. no. no. E dw ard. Whal I d id wa s 10 make d i snn cnons

b etw een o ne im perialism an d an oth er , q uir e as y ou d o: ev er y sen sib le

person mU~1 do no less.

SA ID : VilU accept, I believe. that C onrad could w rite SboUI Bri t i sh

imperiali . \m ;c, i nc vi wb le a nd s ti ll d is li ke o th er r nr ms o f im pe ri ali sm ?

O'BRIEN' I think Ih~1 Ccnrad, in H ea rt o f D a rk ne ss, is producing a

rcducno a d absurdum of all imperialism by takrng th e worsl case. Th e

WOrsl c as e, i nc om pa ra bly . is L eo po ld in e. T he re hD5 be en n othin g lik e

ii, th ere nev er w as unythrng like II before. To sm ear all thi! o ve r li nd

say B nll~h. F rench, at bottom it 's all the sam e, i"s all im per ialism is

rubbi~h. In 1~l.ing th e w ors l cas e. C onr ad WlIS saying thlll t he w ho le

IhHlg was ~ mess: it's nOl.going 10 do an yb od y an y good. so why not

JUSI gel our. In my op in i on i t' s a ll p r or o und l) ' a n ti -Impena hs l. bullllli-

imperial ist with nuances.

A U DIE NCE (JE AN B ETH KE E LS HTA IN): I'm inten:strd in lbe . .,

,,~ see orhco a. foreign. o r r ead lhe Iill'Clgn a.~synunymou.., WIIb the

enemy, Mr. Said probably kmJW! a smal l book by G lenn G r~ called

TlI~ Kbmnrs. in w hi ch b e a rg ue s Ih al O I'lC m ajo r f ullC 1i on (I( .. nalinn-tare al wur is II> cunstruct us powerfu l and ub!ur..c·. :L~ pll5sibk l1l'i

im ag e o f th e o!llCmy. in order IU disti.nguls.h assharply iJ.S possible the

~CI of killing from the act o f m ur der. So we t hi nk . i n terms 0( -the

enemy," as though it wen: concrete and definitive, We tau one small

pan of w hH I t hose foneign people m ight be and rum il inlO "the at-

( my ." N ow . with Ihlll in mind. I 'm t hi nk in g o f ::I ne xp er ie nc e 1 ta.d in•

c la ss la st w ee k. We we re t al ki ng .0001 Gray's book •• nd I asked my

srudents which g ro up t he y mosl n at ur ally s ee a s the abstr. ICt enem y in

th e w ay G ray d es crib es. W e talk ed abool Y3rious andidDe:s. TIle __

d en ts w er e f in ally u na ni mo us ! .hal the Nica rolguans t lK ln ', fi l ; neiIher

di d ih e C hinese, nor the R ussians. B U I the A rn," did. lbal is. in ImnI

0 1 t he i m ag es lh.1 we a n: s ar ur at ed w it h t hr ou gh th e mc :d ia . Md the IK 1thar w e : son o f aw e th em (we t hi nk h en : o f o il p ri ce s. Inn. 'blowilll lip

\1ar ines in Lebanon), ir's hard not 10 see "the Arabs" in III absuxI

~nd t ho rough ly und i sc r im ina ll ng way.

S AID : Som e of IJlIS ha s 10 d o w it h r elig io n. T he re is a tension with IhI:

Arab-Islamic world ! .h at 's a t le as t p an ly based o n relig io o. w hicb is

held 10 be de ep ly c ompe ti ti v e W ilh, and later than. Judaism and Chris-

uani ,y. Ihink, for exam ple, the fairly recent U5C 0( the term JudIco-

Chrislian i nc lu de s a n Implicit reference to lslarn as " odler .- A n d !his ill

pa n comes OU t of 11 c er ta in f ea r.

C ertain ly w hat's g llin g o n in S ou th Leb;, ,1lI1D loliay iJ an oampIe of

~\.:nl~ Wc:.lI:rncr.~ sec in u way a lm o st c om p le te ly d i~ tl le d by bt. Fo r

here we h av e a n a tt em p t by Wcslcmcl'S 10 ascribe C'YCnb to _ I1mda-

menially intransigeuru I slam ic c om po ne nt w hi ch IS s up po se d 1 0 I 'eanue

s ui cid e a nd t er ro r o ve r a r at io na l 50n of accep t anee 0( permanenl ocaa-

pal i on. I think Is rael p lays a ver y im portant r ole h er e. The relationship

betw een Israel and the West. an d th e Uni leq S tates in JIIIrticular....

had the ef fect of more or less condemning the surroundinl _Id.



IIJ'OW ("NlISI "111111:1\. 1·[)IIO\KlJ sxro, JUHN LUKA( '~

,,'h'Lh " II ... I'r':lI) lar);c. tu un ~ ul \lhfh:n :nl i~l. :d mu,s. They' re al l

Ihou);hl ul .. , Ardh, and CommuniS(, dn d I l ar mc terrorists, all these

fant .l .'"O: <·...I..:~"n~'. n ne h l. :n dl n! ! 'nlll ;mlllhcr.

011<' ,;m'lignllrc cuhcr, d parucular ~md <I f ignorance about the

nuddle c .. ' L \ \1 1 I, h" 4u11.: rcrnarkuble .. hen jou rhmk urine greal

h ur J,! I'1 ml ll g • • 1 :m,:~ ,IUJ'I', In Ih" c ou nt ry a lh :r wurld war lW O, You ,e.:

S.n·lels. C hinc-,e and Indi an s on 1I:le\' l'IOO ,jl '(U~'IOns; the area of

,"!O lar,hlp Ih;ll ha~ reruarncd II I;md of poor cousin and has never""'de i ln) "'lIlrrouuun to the lar j,!a culture oj [he Wesl is ehe ,Iudy uf

lslam . If )ULI a ,1 .: a 'W~I~m lmellectual to nam e a ... ruer of Ihal 'W Orld.

he : can'r. V. . : r : - IIILt .: I , al"dllaole to r Ihal reason. A nd very linle specific

~) mpalh) .. nh hl:..mll" thought i , l ik el y to develop,

AUDIENCE; Tu the "ulhor of Tu KaltJlIga wuJ Back ' I wanl 10 say Ihal il

i..cc.·.: ' .....ry I" recall how much Ihul wcnl wrong i n p la ce s like th e

C un !; " W '. l. ' lhe resu lt o f the underhanded maneuvcnngs nut only of the

BcI!1i:Jn.. bUI of exter nal po w1:r s of v ar io us k,inlb, o ft en a be tt ed by th e

U nlt lX l N illions i tself This Mr O 'B rien koows probably bet ter than

anyone: d-e, In " Ih er w or ds, il s.ecm~ 10 me Ihal before one points thejn~'<!r al L:mCT!!Cnl peoples whoare made III take II b..d spill, \V C also

h:r.c In ! :i kc imu aCCOUOI LIlt tripwire which b a lmo st i nV l ln ab ly SCI in

../ then path.

Seeued. I don't think i l i s cnli~l::.cp~J9..w.Jhlll_lhird-WQdtI

Inu:IICC1U"I. h:N c rn unnely cor rup'~ d .Ihejr .I;IWJI.~IIlIl.QJl.S~ln_man)

In~l,;Inct' Ih e Inl~nectU3.Jniave been tra,!l)p.!ed_!ln_flcrf'?O! by J r, ad er s . .. .b o

We n: \ up p "n cJ f I ) . 1 6 . : - w e s ' - h C c 3 u s e the wen: rc:cived as our a Ii.:'

and .. ' "!:jIll - _ • :.__ ~~niM s. These people were

ahl. : " 'I :' l.c hulu orlFic levcr-, ufrowcr and IIIu,.: Ihi~ pnwcr :lg:!,"'1 the

up·antJ"lllllllllt; r;..:ncri l lum IIf mh:III!CIU:lI~who, had Ihey been given an

"ppununJly. nu~hl have come oul lo ok.ln g som ew hat m ore imprcssb e

a) Inltl lc,lu.JI ...

o BRIEN: VI'" Ihal docs ccn.ainly supplement whal I 've said here. I

d nn 'llh lllL w e . . re i n f un dam en wl d l'-'lc ,r cc men l It IS [rue. us I Wri llC In

Ilk: t..IL h' wluch you rcf~r . I ha l i n t he p o, l· rn de pc nt .l .:m :e : CUn!!l',

../ w tuch I. m... 7. .. ., c, t he re w"s II !! re :. ll d ea l u f WC,,>I.:m rntervcnr iun II,

a l ! o O r f'U C I h~ 1 m ,m y .. , Ih~r;;:;plc (jgurc~ were. In the m~:-~~I~ 01

~!>ICm ". ....crv, IIr Jr k" .. were bUIlding up Ih':lf (,",n po~IIHin.... uh

lh.: help u l W c;.r cr n H id . B U I w here I dil ler Irom E d ""~ rd I II I 'I !W IO I1 1 0

hl~ presentation. JUS I as you differ from me In ret.."on 1 0 m y prne1IIa- )

non. is on the quesuon o f b ala nc e, Some oj t he t ro ub le ) of po$l'

.:ulunl.<l1 Arrica cer tainty earne from Wc,l<!fn inrervenuon an d

manipulation. Bul not all . by no rnean-, "II "I them The Congo expen-ence i,on e thing, Ghana. fo r example. i,..orb cr W ncn I 11...:< 1n

Ghana in rhe ,ixl ies I SlIW that 0 10 5 1 o f Gh,,"a', Irnublc~ wer e b el! 'l

nmnufa..QlJ.' II new clue. When dcculun'£aLllln ",,'a, "'"'.:1in m an y p l~ cc s, i l W'd' C ear I al mie eeiuars wuu t . . I rormul~u; !.Ix; rJc-

milnlJ~ !ind launch Ihe critiques, 1 1 1 1 5 . .. .a~ the c;c,c from 194700, from

the lime of Indian independence and all Ihmugh t he years when other

coumrles would press their claim s. A nd i l had been t rue und er colon . ..

~Ibm too. In Ihc G o ld C ou SI. which b ec am e G h~ na , Ihc old IDlI.:llecuw

.:IIIC!., knnwn In culnnrali ..1 mYlhnll1g} a, the ct..luC~lct..I Alne"n" W\:n:

preparing 10 tukc ' rver; [hey were c.pc"lIn~ II I u Le ew er . OUI I ho. .' 11h r

-ccnario ~pccdcd up. an d Ihey ~'nuhJn'l 1,,11..... S.. ;a n.:w d'll: •.(k......

educated p eo pl e, p eo pl e whu Wl.!fc 11111Uni '- .: rloIlY !!nKiUOlIt:l> matnly,

an d had done maybe om: yellr in hl~h \Ch,Il.I, reahzed lhal If Ihcy

,'.:ppcd up thei r rhetor ic and shOUIL-d "~':I 0\11:' tho: highly aI~

\"luld leave. because they were ~oJy In gc l ')1,)1 a ny . .." ') '. A n d 1 "'- ') d ......

m"" of them. S" YH U hudthe second-rare intellectual» P'I,hinl! out lhe

" Ill e lu e. T hi s p he nome no n W4:> q ui ll : t r cq u em in A.lri t .: • . thouGh !hen:

. .. .. r e o th er p at te rn s HI~o, O ne do esn 'I. in n:mgniLing Ihi~, ~pc:d: With

g.?neral comempt about the rruellecrualv whn rcrnamed. Some: 0( the

n.:"" leaders were qui te capable. Tshurnbe never prelended 10 be an

.mellecrual. He was JU SI an ord inary gu)" Lum um ba w .u a very 111-

prepared irucllcctual , bU I he had a vel) I!,"ld m ind, h ......ever much

~lr l'U Olslall(C' caused him 10 grope Inr hi , ....ly BU I J .H I lC l K..:ny4tla,

" ...r .: he her e l",by, wuuld b e m ilk rn g II re..1 imf'.K.' un Ihl' Il...t.:rr~.

5 •• \\\luld L eo pold S cng hor of Senegal S.)fll<: 01 (h e heir; " , , - . : n : In bet

.ntellectuals of exc ept ionally hi gh qua lit)'

BU L th e 'Lhing I d id WJnL 1 0 st re ss h er e, the fllel we lJlouh.l not bIc

'l!! ht o f, i~hal In most colonral countnts then: ,~ l iu le , .. . no r reedom

.~~~~~~~~~~;7~~~~u,IJIl"l"lInlru leLl ncw ~~111 ~l.i Ilc·(;lO lIln.lled hrn ....kll~'"j: ,y~c"".

LI i~L6 " , . .. w h o "'anI 10 ICUt'h ao o engu!(c In rC""lIr~6 Will &: I I I unl \l :ni -

1J~" fthit-Ii 3. e a llO t'r H VtFY n m y -s n nu iK \. i il l ,tatc ~ u n ~ m i . . L, r id )H i' ! li B

n.'llllvenicd by tire ex-colonial power. n I' t he .... r" 0( Ihr _ eli~

. •h . . a rc r..rly ~hltpt 'd I ' r ) th e old c ol um a l c ~ pc rH: nc :e .

71

v'

,



(U,OR CRUISE 0 BRIE!'> ED" '' 'RD S"' ID JOHN LUKACS

AU OIE CE: I ....I D! I U n :t ur n 1 0 \o me lh ln g ,U 8 1les lt :d In Edward Said's

l~nln i! n:nl:JrJ,.~ W e can 't prelend Ih.ll telling thc truth am Ount s 10 the

wme Ihll l~ I II one context i. 11 ; jmnUnls 10 In another, It's rmportant 10

iiiI 4boout o pp rc "lv t: ~ li Ile control i n A ln ca or In C em na l Am er ic a. bU I

II', JU'" "" impofUni III recognize ",hal lhal uilk means in some place ,.

Ti l ,11\:- In Ihc UnlL~ State ...the mfrmgemenr» on freedom of the pre»

unposed by r h e S .l nJ ln ls U i s 10 Nicaragua IS In effect to S UppO Fl rhe

Reaglln p ullC ) i n C en tr al Amenca Y ou m ay ~cny Ihal i s w hat yo u

Ime llC l . " dll, bU I there u is.

O'BRIEN: Obwlously I don'. WlIol anythmg I s ai d tlc~ 10 b e construed

as Jus.1Ifymg A mencan fo~ ign poli cy In i ea ro gu a, w hi ch Ihink is

fundMnc I .I l1 y . . rung-beaded; 1 lhink I I' S a ls o addressed 1 0 Am e r ic an

dome~1l" eoncer ns and 1\01 ID any genuine inlem allO nal im erests of Ihe

Un it ed S t al e> I wanllO be quilt: clear about that, But I don't think Ihll

-..e who wanl 10crnicw: AmenCin policy i n C ent r al A meri ca or else-

.. here art .J"ing oun.elves an y good if w e Iry 10 sweep under the rug

tbe lyl1lD mCal "nd negauve aspect s of many poSI-c:olonial reg imes.

(Whether. Icaragua is posl-colonial or pre-colonial w ould be very

hard III ~ r i ,h! F 1 ! C J W . ) In the main I've been LIIlking of regimes I 1 : . n o o A 'bew . .. .. f ri l:~n regi~ pnmari ly. A nd frankly. ITIOSI o f t hem 1'7 bl ..; v :_ful. A nd I don'l lbink we should pre!e ey Ire anythll lg else, Vnot if WI: ar e 10preserve what I mlghl c all o ur i nt el le clu aJ e omm it me n

ID1wnc:$I)"

SAID: Bul who would disagree wuh I denuncialion of I)'ranny? Th e

wran e come, ",hc:n you uk. "where docs one do thai?" I m ean,lq

denounce lyF'.mny IS net n eccuuilylo Id'i lncc the cause of freedomJ"!

O'BRIE I'm ~,!..~c~_ slmply_lcu.;ll~ I can'! be su re a bo ul

whICh o r m y w tc mc nu ; will or w ill not ad . .. . n e e th e c au se o f f re ed om .

SAID : BU I -'lCllmg the truth" will seem 1 0 s om e people ~I)' ell5Y if rh e

.M II rh ey Idl Ii de.igned 10appell 10 a n o bv io usly r ece pt iv e consntu

erIC)' whICh qms 10 hc:ar one: km d of InJih but no others. Th e wlue of

leIIimonlall 10 f re ed om a nd d em oc ra cy will wry in acrcrdanee wllh

!he r i rcumsUinces In which they Ir e m ad e. And Ihal i.euctJy Ihe perm

, MJU ld make about V .S . N alp3ul, Nalpaul'~ conslllU ency IS nO t the

....ar ld of trulh seekers eVl:rywhen:. He wrlle, 10 the WCSlcm II

w 0 wants very much 10 be reassured lhal. after 1111. af t er ' _" IcfI

P~ n aficr-Wi:- lell Mala~a aruT:iu<£7.w?ie ..fi..r.m1tU~.. or~~ n~II~n:Judlcc IS DOl "~Imply" 10tel] the t ruth. l.(/

LU KA CS: Naipaul ha,n', spared anyone In Iu s wrillngs. Hc tw. h8 d

h ar sh t hi ng s 10 s a y aboul people In Argent ina and to Tnnidtld, about

A fr i ca and Pakist an . Hc's nOI at "II selecnve in lhe: manner of mo5l

m te llec tu als I k no w.

ROBERT BOYERS : It d oe s se em 10me I,",~' t N o t

:'\aip au l does w ri te f or In audience ~Icrn 1D1e1lCC1~

O 'BRIEN: A nd what o ther audience "'lIull] hc wrnc f o r' ? . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..

BOYERS : BU I I can not Igree with EdW llrd lRaI Naipaurs ~

. .udience is Iypicldly charmed by whal he tw. (0 S6 J or rettpl,i.-e 10 hlS

m essage, su ch 15 i l i s. Naipaul's most pressing Insi !hlS go direal),

_galDsl the gmin of th e s ta nd ar d li be ra l bias held in common by mo.l

we st er n I nt el le ct u al s leday.

OBRIEN: Thill'S n Ol t ru e. tie's !alking .bout human be ing :! ~

r.~~~onluSCd and desperate suuanons There IS 1M] t~ of ~~ Naipaul, and I don'! see wh y when you di Ja~ O(l\is VIt:W1

. .



B OYERS ' N;.up"ul need nOI balance what he '.Jys about A frica w ith

co mp an .. h c complaint .. on the sune of alfalr, I n L on do n. The quesuon

) JU'r,: r~l'm~ ho b ILl do ""lIh whether Dr nor he d eli be ra te ly f aJ si fi cs hi>

matenal on IhC' thi r d w nr ld SOas ID pander 10 the: biases of a Western

OIudlt~n..:e, Thai audience, I would contend, 15 not disposed t o b eli ev e

th.l l C"und11ODl . I I I m e Ullrd world sre as aw fu l or as hopeless 115Ih~

loCem in arpaul, A nd th ey a re s ur ely resissanr lD the i dea (hat people In

A fnC2 or in India or Paki stan are vicnms of t~ i r respect ive cultures.

A n 1m nant dImension of N31paUl'S Ir umenl is Ihal as Io n as Indl '

al1S im tl A rnc .. n> continue [0 I In In ways mandated by elr Q\I'nculiij""r.1 m<lJ(uhoJU. Uicy Will HI! dnable 10 deal ,ff;clI 'i ' i:h mheir

pmbl!m), I f iB IS hardly tM so n Dr thmg We~(em liberals. w uh t hei r

OI1Il 'J latDry respect lor "lien c ult ur es . a re p re pa re d 10 l ike. Ho w o ft en do

~ nc.r ...:-rll)ll' wr'ler~ tel l us Ih.t one culture is nOI .5 good as an-

()I~r, lhal ...,me culture) posiuvdy o bs tr uct o r even fo rb id the kinds of

lIueJleclu~1 growlh w e an: supposed 10 adm ir e? S om e readers ma y like

1 0 r Ci tl Jl h; ,1 I hI : hi:mm: m ll1d IS lazy, bU I m ost W C'slem l iberals w.m! 10

believe Ih;,! 00(' culture is ~ valid Ill. another and thai problems are the

.·'",.cquen~( III "imperiahsrn," Nalpaul ca n hardly be said 10 pander 10

IheK people

SAID' The Nill au l phenomenon is Ih e phenomenon of B certain con-

~.I. IIf;, u'rl ..m mom.:", a nd a bo ve 3 ,(I a c4!n~t:!!!!:'!I.!!c.t~[~~n

NIIIp;lul Juju I jllM h.,ppcn H':" '~l Incl :.J greJI aIlCnl~o~~1 ~.P~_~~J~r

linlt' He hid Ihl . . g rc 'l l rmp ac t 6Cc ii "u .. ehe contributed 1 0 a n I IJ re ad \

,r uwm r- tf j~m h an ll nc rn - with t h e I h lr d wo ;! a. an ir -W l il i m e decoioiiiz3',Iinn~!\ p,-n .:rJlly ~ .. ..... _ _ - '" " _.__-lOVERS: I " 'l in I Ihlnk Ihlll ilnyunt" will deny Inal, by the l im e N al pa ul

wry Infiutnllal, In Ihe mid - 1970 's , I he p ru nu se anr ihurcd 1('1

• •1Il'''1 IhmJ ...orld revoluuonv h..d 110~ ....ur II ";" nil l"nl=~1p... "l>k

,'\~n tor u~I i I 'UI cmhu,ld'" 10 'U'll>m Ih,' hilI"-' III Ih.,.,.; 1I:,"lullllO' Ih".

th~~ hbt l rurmcrly entertained

~-\J D' BUI th~ 'lU~'II<,"I~. hClW well, h ' hnn,:,tI), "'•..:, " " 'I " '- 'u l ~ .

Jr.:" problems In the counines he S;tl'~ II ', la lL in ,; . .bou ..• H,,.,. nUld!.11 the effect he produces IS a mailer nl hi' L .n .. , i ng ~ In ~nIlCIp"1t'

J ,"a[i~faCliun wl ln whut happened In Irun IIr In ,"m~ IIlher pl~c~"

D ont JU St listen IU wha t 1 l> 81 ' a bo ut N~I p" U I: r <. :< Jd . .. .ha l C.L,R J~ lnc'

..nd Salman Ru~hdic ! o a y .

o B RIE N: W ould rhe Iranian revoluuon tl:J\>! ..an,fied )lIU . If )\IU had

been living there?

SAID : or course not . I 've at tacked il frequently, an d louoJl). ; al th ou ll h I

am still II solid supporter of the revnluuon asamsl tbe Shah, Bu t my

'lew of t he r e vo lu uo n there is not 10quesuon. Tbt moIDCII! N:upaul

c.erine~ an d c rys lll lllz e~ f or t he Western audl~nce i~th e 1TKI1ItCnl of ""rJ I l. .ipPDln tmc:nl . .. ..Ih th e prospec(~ Dr Dlh>!1 'oplc>, A nd lhal diSOlp-

pouurncm, s as I I IS o n o ur t en den cy IU g r t1 \l o' bo r ed w i lh ~ lh i ll l

"c can' , control, is at 111l~mol of t he a cc lai m N ~i Pllu l ha l. ""'Ill,

O'BRIEN: Obviously we're nO( goin!: 10 ap = rm much uf !hili, an d

there's really a good deal we haven'( touched en, We h.M:n' t dcbaJed,

tor example. the quesuon of h ow m uc h ,l Ipaul n : . o a l l y does knull otbow

t he I sl am ic world W hat E dw ar d fC(!.anh ll> " prCJu(hcc IN) he ,he

! tading edge of II perfectly valid insljlht B UI fo r I J O V o ' Ilhtol; "'e'lI baYe

10 leave our dif ferences w hen: they an::.

--:--....._------"':----.._-_._ . . . . . ._ - .. .--._.-..-~,



--j

SALMAGUNDI

,1Q".m~rl'· uf Ih~ HUfTI(m; lI t ' s & SocialSn....uJ

P"hli.rh.·d by SAid",,," C"I/'/lr (

SPRING-SUMMER 1.Ji,

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1"0. 70-71

\.U ..\I:\Cj( ~'ll I. l'ul>lo,II,'" 'lu.rI ...~11 I> ~ SlIJIlI"'" I ,'Ik~~ .\11

•,'fI.·"."kklk" ",•.,IJ 1 > . . . . . I J I. :, " -' '' \ 1 1SALM,\UI' .' \ 1)1. 'iLIJI""t~C,'II,'~".

\,o( ~. "rrlll'" ' I . ' ' ~K '. " ! >uh" ,r l I' IJ lm , ) I : ! . I M I ," , " '' ' ' WJI ~ I X . L J I J " I f, ~~~, 'n,IIIIII."" \Ih 1.' J ,J J \~~ 00. ""re'lln 'ul>....ropl"';,' ",id ~I ~IIf"~'..~ '~I1 ...·nl' "'Ntl "''''' .1 ' ' ' ruU,,1 h t . . . !I1i.h.l!.!' In U.S nun,.·.h.\ I IUI IU- ': \ ,mJ\.·, o r

.' h M..N., In , . , , 1 1 .Ulr""~ I ~Jlllri..~.~ll~' < , . l IM I ~f""1.1. ': ', " '1 "!IlL

......." 4,...I.,hl.,: II' "'p.WII.Jlruu,\ ~n~t ,run", \v.,h' hI '\1 'I \(il ; " ' 1 > 1 .

~'"''''''M''' C IhU'.rI.u.' ~,"I.'.!I·I (,tll"lIJ!hl I"XII I~ '~hlu"lllo , ~'II'I.·V"·

. .. . , . .. . " . .. .. r tt "',UIII' .1111. .." nUhl h \, o . .uu~, . . ! tl ltU I'uhlhh ..I'" \" ... , .. h~

.......... "" 1_ ""''''I, .•j .....1.. 1 1 1 - . : , " " '· . . . \'11''-·'''1'· )'IIUI,-'J I\.~II'IIIIU r;III1·',

T he N ew Fcm inisl Scho1.,'Sl>ip !rI'Jt ' IJI I

Br"I'··~£1..1" , , ;11

The Fcminisl Subject by ClrrislOflhcr L.ud,

The New FeminisllmelleC1u.l: A Di...cussiu" ,,;,/,

CI"iSI(jplr~r Lascn, R~"a'aAdler" hun f.hl"rJi"-

ImcllcclUi!h in the Po~I-Colonill World h,· EJ".,td SuiJ .. ..

Th e Post-Coloni.1 l nt el le ct ua l: A Discussi;)fl "i,h

COiInr C ru ts « O 'B ri en . fiJwotd Said" )"11,, Ld=:J

C. Wr i! !h l M i ll ~ R e co ns id er ed In > iarnn Millrr

The Eumplc of C. Wr iGh t M i ll s' by CI,rislflf'Mr lIurir

Ge o rg !! O rwel l ~nd tile Cl .....s Rx~1 h) ' Grruld Groff

Orw~lI's Lc~acy: A DisclJ.si,tn ,nlll i'o/III ( . I . . I . . u c . r ,

Edward Suid & G..rW d Groff

On Octavlo Pa z ! r i o En ri qu t K roul l'

On Oetavio I'Iu. bl " J. C. unoro dr P . Lenon:L au n Am er ic an I ni el le ct uI ls : . A D is ;c us .~ iQ II , , ;r h

En ri qu e K rou :' l! . Patricia R ub io L en ora '"

JIUJ/l Carlos Lenora

T he R esponsibi li ty of Int ellecruals: A Discussion with

G<ror , . S,tinu. Conar Cruiu O'Brien. lLrJk K o i a i .O ' I 4 - :r J j

" R ob ..n BovrrsOn Mellnie Klein by Phy ll is GrrmkJ.nh

Psychoanalysis iii. Public Philosophy i T ) ' ChriSlophrr u.s",

P 5y chO in aly si s I ll d P ol it ic s: A Discussion " " , hCh ri rJ o phr r La sc h & Phy ll is Grossk J .nl l

The Po li sh I n te ll ec tu al by S IQ ll iJ iD w B o ru ll C -. .a k

The Po li sh I n re ll ec tu s l: D i sc us .s io n wilhus:tl: Kolakowskj & : Slal lj slDw Boru l lC".. I Jk

T he C ase o f H en ry K iS Sin ge r i T ) 1 iarr» D. Nu r hmDn

The lnlcl lcclui ll in Powe r: A D i sc :u Js io o "lrh

Connr C rvi se O 'B ri t" & John u.kDC'S

Hc id cg ge r\ P o li ti c.1 Engagement / 7 : 1 ' Hrmurrl Eiland

S;.inn: lInd Amn by }amrs D. Wilkin.wII

On GCIIII,lC SIemer by /hab HWSlJIl

Th e Luy lmcllectual by Wi l li al l l P f tl f f

On Leroi June,/ Armri Bardka 1 1 ) ' G,.rot.l Earlv

3 J~'1

))

f'

6S

82

10l

108

12 1

12 9

1 S ' 2

I~I

1

16 4

19 6

204

21 4

117

UI23 4

2 S ' 7

2(j7

215)16

))4

34 3



62 BARRY TARCil

c le nc he d a nd fclt solid. firm in t ho c al ve s o r h is l eg l in d in hi s intCSlilll'

an d n il a ro un d hi s head. "'ind blew oll the luke and he shivcrU

in it bU I only \\ i rh his skill. 'L he old mill! I (o ( h is b rea th b a c k ' l I

sat back 011 his heels and looked up at Culeb. He said through It .blood} moust ache ,

"Ok"

Narrative: Quest for Origins and

D iscovery of the M ausoleum

BY EDWARD W. SAW

1)1 WHAT follows I will discuss a few, m ainly E ng lish. classic al

. . o r k ~ 01 narratlve art. My point of departure is Hardy's Jude the

O b s c u r e , nn d hy this choice I want to suggest that the publication

01 lhnt novel in 1895 might have been ncar the time when linear

norrolivc had lulf illcd itself and therefore com pleted its project. From

IIml)"s last novel I move to a discussion o r earlier and later w orks:

m y choices in nil cnscs nrc nl ways as deliberate as possible and, a l a s ,

v e r y much Ihe poarer [or their avoidance 01 such names as Proust,

D ef oe, R i ch ar dson, F lau bcr t, and the c ontem por ar y nove lists. P ro ust,

fo r example, dCSCf\C5 separate and special treatment both inside and

eutsldc the [ramcwork of my discussion. So also do James, Mann

and Borges. There arc many more names, particular novels, and

t~crrtions that would either reline or relute much of what I say.

Neve r th el es s. t h e style and the subject that [ have picked for this

fllAY I would, I think, pick agnin, For I w ish to try and render the

imp re ss iv e f or ce o f n ar ra ti ve ' 3S i t went about the business of its own

life [rom birth to the end. My npproach aucmpts to d esc ri be t ha tlnrrc adequately.

Tho d i sc ov er y hy [ude and Sue, 1 10 t 0 11 1) " o f l in i nl an ti le su ic id e a nd

Ihr munlcr of their children, hut also uf a wretched note o r cxplan-

IIliQI1 f IJ I ' the eked - "Dune hl'rallsr wr- nr c 100 menny" - docs

Holhillg to nUt'nlHllr their glid. E ver since he appcnrs so inoppor-

IlIlIdy ill the ir live s, Lillie Fnrhor Tunc is the emblem o£ their

lIIilgjdng~ n hO ll t hlc, n nd t lH'sl' l 11 i 5~ \i v il 1g~ n r c lamcnrnbly fulfilled

In t i t " PI(,1I1II11(((' ("'Rlh~ he' h~~ ( ', III ( 'II. The scene i s melod ramat l c



64EOIVARO W. S" Naffalive

and 111010<1 too sad and desperate oven {o r Hardy, bu t the pun"

the last word ? f the child' suicide note ought not to pass withQ~

comment, Fo r Just as the superannuated boy h imsel f is an cconomlct:

figure for all th e disasters heaped by lim e upon man in general anj

u po n J ud e in part i cu lar, so to o th e pun - a sort of distant e ch o d

NieI7_~he's. cr y "hll_man. all 100 hum an," w ith its turning-aw ay Iro~

the dl<lresslng qual ity and the sheer qumuity of being human _ i!ltH

economize, what it was perhaps rhm turned Hardy away lrom nci lQ~

a tu 'r t hi s nOH''- A nd that was the observation, m ade m ore and mOll

~xplicitly in O ? C a lt er a no th er of hi s previous novels , that if ftctlQ~

rs to be narranve at nil, it must necessarily be linked with an d be I

coeval of rhe very process of We usel]; and furthermore, if narratill

. .. .a s t o be mimeti c as well as fecund, it had better be able also 10

repeat as well as record. th~ "[ath!'ring-forth," "the over and overlngi"

(Ihe ~hra~€S are Hopkins) o f h um an life, who se e ss en ce and figull

are ~lolo~lcal self-perpetuation and unfolding genealogy based o nmarn8ge.

I take Hardy's case in Jud e the O bscure to be the recognition b y8 gr~a I artist that the dynastic principles of narra ti VI' were now

1ll,'aJld,. Nsrra live. now no longer lirst handed j rself to the writer to

he- fa~hlon('d by him according to the scquent ia] form or time, a n d

Ihen.seca.nd 10. the reader, thereafter to bc read , or possessed, a l o n g

the. lines IIIwhich our eyes and minds repent by m ir ac ulo us m ul ti pli .

c~llOn the sense and dire~tion oI.life. These principles, so lar as Hardy

wa s concerned. ha d terminalI'd In an epitaph: "Done because we aretoo menny" A d h d - .- n t es e wor S con tamed cOlllcidences between man,

h'~_d( 'alh an.d a [uturc!rss despai r J ud e the O bscu re, however, t l\m'l'I

10 lis own dlslr:tught conclusion, one Ihat would be adopted hence.

forward by Hardy as the crux of his purposely short and eurnpressC1l

poc~ry Th_a~ poetry ~Is around an impasse between things human

splritue], dflm~ ~r inert, an impasse that is acsthctlcally uselul ie ]

Hardy because II Isolalf'S things I rom each other, i t m ocks the stcr ilil)

of time, and then brings 'hings back logelh!'r in order to let themb e dcslroyed Time-bpun I . d' .l J { narrnuve rr- es lis spncrousncss and lu

.m,lIaJ cohercm;e to crahhrd ami 1 )1 11 '" 1lcslrl lCt ivc cOl1v('rgenccs b y

:which time and purpose ur(' emnsculatori ill IIr" momcm of minddcncr

nk In p.rticular 01 Hardy's IIInjrslienlly ironic poem "The Con-

of the Twain," And uf its linnl stanzas, with t lr l' s rom lu l

welding" The 1'0('( here is sp('uking of the Titanicdasuoyed It ·

IX

Alien they seem ed to bel

No mortal eye could sec

The int imate welding o r their later history,

X

Or sign that they were bent

By paths coincldcnt

On being anon twin halves of one august event,

XI

Till the Spinner of the Years

Said "Nowl" And each one hears

And consummation comes, and jars tw o hem isph eres .

lillie Father Time's name and presence yield u p f ur th er observa-

tions which, we ma y feel with the B ishop w ho reportedly burned

h is copy of J ud e the O bscu re, d o great damage to the sacrament o f

ongoing human me. For the boy is neither really a son, nor of course

~ l ather. He is an alteration in th e course of life, a disrupt ion oE the

.rchacology that links goncrntlcns with each other, His death isth~ affirmation, or reallzatlcn, o r this in di sp ut ab le r ole he plays; in

the same way that Jude's successive dreams - oE scholarship. oE

.rchitcctural am bi tio n, o f p atr im on ia l and malrimonial order - are

realized about equally in his tormented m e with Sue Bridehead and

In the gingerbread models of Christrninstcr he is reduced to seIling

near the end of the novel. Three conditions of divorce are inter-

connected here. th e divorce of man [rom his generative role, the

d iv or ce o f m an r rom tim e, the divorce or man Irom his intentions.

N o w this is a gained celibacy whose price is very high indeed. And

w e m ay look 10 Gisslng's parable ol the narrative life, N ew G rub

Street, to see he s ac ri fi ce m ad e f le sh . Every wri ter in that grim vision

01 the eco no mics or nnrrativc script is e it he r s te ri le , blind or celibate.

Otherwise he is no t II writer bu t a manager. The books produced

nrc n wilderness of mir rors that reflect the doomed effort to produce

wlthout criginnlif y. to originate without energy, and to fable without

b rea d. F or neither the nutr iment ol man, nor of his work, is given

1 0 the writer : i t must he quarried out of unyielding matter, either

nut of the word or the world, and thereafter wastefully enshrined in

Ih r t edi ous plots ul three \'01 urne s oc ie ty n ov el s.

Gissinr;'s ullIrlcllt ing naturalism A nd H ardy's valedictory

R fC depictions !If nn event, near the end oE the nl!tieteerltll

11 1 th e 111('o f f ic ti on itsell And AS fiction Is a rival

65



6 6~DWARO W. SII N D r r a t i ~ ' c 67

like histor y. h('(~ \'een hlnh lind de ath, II'e loo k in f iction, 0.1 w e I II

when w e re nd histnry, f or t he ( 'O nf i,\,u rllli un s t he re in o f sense h• ..' - . - , c ara~

rcr, C\'(~nI. ":011\"('. slgnrficllnce, thar link the absolute term inals \\itl

each other :nto. the Iorms lind idcntilies w e 10\(' a nd d isc er n, I~

~ cuon and In hls~ory Ilarrutil'e, to borrow a turn from Joyce, is IhI

ineluctable modality of the legible, W e must ask ourselves now whll

is Ih r moment in I he li fe of Iicrionnl nnrrarlvo tw o of w hose evidc nC l1

are F at he r T im e's death a nd R ea rd un 's death: dea th w hose monu.

n~cnts art' 11 punning note in the I1nt place, and in the s ec on d p la ce , In

.\ rill'.Grub Street. the ter rif ying \'isio n of bookdom 's gra veya rd, t i l l

Reading Room of the B ritish Museum? M odality no longer fruitful,

but stopped short, brurnlly interrupted. pushed inward. A moment

that will dr i··~ Shaw the erstW hile novelist in to dramatic Iorrns lIb

that of M a r J r Ra"bara , that energetically im itate not the new ~oda

of hard-headed realism , socialism and mater ialism which are laud~

il~ the pla}"~ pr~facc, but the new modes of D ionysiac celebration,

dlthj ramble I rr at lo na li ry , m us ic al f lu id it y. In rc-writing The B a c c h o t ISh aw wa s n oi si ly s ub st it ut in g the r eb ir th o f b lo od th ir st y i nd iv id ua li sm ,

th e gospel a ccor d~ ng . to U ndcr shaf t·D iollyslI s, f or the stultified r igor

of decent bourgeol~ Ill!! take n by thc con ventional nove l. f or its subjC 1:1A m om enl II~at W ill turn Butler 's hero E rnest Pontilex into a symbal

for the rejecuon of the f am ily , li nd c on ve rs el y, i nt o an acceptance 01

a myslmous force that is independent - like his m unif ice nt aunt

A lthea - oIbiologicaJ life itself . Yet r give O scar W ilde greater credit

than I do cllher BU ller or Shaw for seeing that for the a rtist thl

natural. continuity of things had been ruptured. In turning his bad

upon llf~ W Ilde was a cknow ledging that his ow n cspncious bu tearnest I I . 1 '

: ~ usions were at cast coherent, IIhereas life wasn't. Y~t

th e arusnc Ir iJlnph is ~Iten t he p er so na l t rngedy: a happy narcissw

on Ille p ag e a ll t oo ( ,1 I5 )ly b ec ar no tlac pillor ied defendant in court. ILet m~ 110:\' put w ~n[ r h av !' b ee n s pc nk in g ~bOUI i nt o t he n ar ra llV I

r,[ lla~T~tJ\'e IIsel[. 1 he beginning conditions of I I ! ! narmlivc nr e I h e

possl.bdlly of com['Cllt ivc oxpln nnl ion, find of r ei ur n: the I lllldnm cntni

[ext IS The Odyss('lj T he 1 (1 !'~ 1c ou rs e o f f ic ti on C~1l b e ch ar n cIN iz cd

a s t he r ('[ I.lr li 10/1 ,mint o f f r ui tf u l origil1n1ioJl ill Ihe past [rom which

Ih e n a rr a uv l' ~u bs (' ql Jr ll tl y IWl;im 10 IInfoldancl 10 which it can nIWB)'s

rCI~m 1 CAnl1(,[ hcr" sketch tllr W I 1 0 1 ( · history lind theory of IlRrmtil'C

fiefl~J1:, JOT thc joh is 100 ..... , 1 done in such seminal works ns Horry

Levin s The Gates of lIorll, Grorg l.ukac~'s Dii- Tlieorlu rial Romans

Rene G i ra rd 's i \f cl IJ (J II gl ' HlIII(Jllliqllc rl 11'';1(: rOI11I11I[,lqU(:, Tltci:

dl!porili~s 0 1 m ethod and intention notwithstanding, su ch c ri ti ca l

tudics illustrate how it is, 10 us e I. A . R ich ar ds' ph ra se, tha t f iction

4 speculative instrument. That is, how readers have used fiction

10 engage their ow n narrative histor ies, or how fiction participates

histor ically in the m ost intim ate actualities of hum an Ii!e.

The primordial discovery is that of self; and I mea n p ri mo rd ia l

here In n privileged way - [he primordial 8S the preem inent, and

the p r ior , as th e Iir st v ali da ti ng c on di ti on lo r in t el li g tb i lt t y . In suchIn ov el a s Tom [ones, f o r e xampl e, the foundling is discover ed a t h is

b i r th ollly - and this is the [unction of the narrative - to be re-

dlscovcrcd through 8 series of adventures that make the bir th intelli-

~Ible: he is given pa te rn ity . B y extension (thls is a sexual pun I

mea n) T or n will himself be a hlc then to give paternity but this, also

by extension, takes place outside the novel. It is pr ec ise ly w ith the

contours and the som etim es em barrassing intim acies of th is process

that Trillram Shandy tampers. T hc eighteenth century novel, like

the elghll'enth century personality (one can think of Swif t and Dr.

[eheson together with Torn lind Tristram ) grows out of the initial,

somewhat g r ud g in g a c cept a nc e 01 e go ism, s lo wl y t ra ns fo rm ed by time

an d unceasing activity into a n irreducible character whose special

vlrtue is thnt he welcomes nnd easily assimilates stories about him.

W he th er i n 8 novel, in Boswell's Life, or in t he c on ti nu in g se qu en ce

0 1 Sw if t's w or k, n ar ra ti ve is the redefinition of ego into the em ergence

ol a strong h is to ri ca l i dc nu ty ; as Meredith saw , the Book of Life an d

th e B ook of E goism , the novel, gradually became synonymous.

A n im portant qualification to this characterization of narrative and

lts origins is the c on di ti on o f s ec ula ri ty . If. in what 1 have so far

b ee n s a yi ng . t he f un dame nt al text is Tile Ody~se y , then it m ust also

be said tha t the Iundam cntal anti-text, t he f un dame nt al antitypc,

is th e N ew T es tame nt , an d especlal.y, o f c ou rs e, th e F ou rth G o sp el.

Fictional na rr ative is thus nn alternative departure, a set o f m i sadv en-

tures aWIlY [mi ll t he O r i! \i n, nn a lmo st t heol og ic a l term that must be

understood in the $1 r ictest sense possible: as pure nnter ior lty and,

pnrndoxically, fl~ pure genetic pow er. for that O rlgin cannot, except

h y n ouce-cnactod mirnclc, he duplicntcd or incarnated within the

ahsolutc buuudn rie s of I 1 1 1 11 on llle, The history of im itation in the

West, as both A ucr hnch and Curtius hnvc shown, is the history of

a gradunl lilemq spccializutinn of st) lcs whereby the models of

lm lt at lc n slo wlv lo se r hc lr l'\l'111pIRI)' Iurcc nnd thdr O riginally divine

r~rN(,I1CC, \\'C m ight k('cp in m ind. for Instance, the distinction betw een



LUWARD W. SIJ: NlltrOIiI'1'

Thomas a K em pis a nd DOlt Quixote. It is Irom the laller thnt I h tclassic novel der ive. the U11\ arjing' temporal structure that Luk

calls ironic Thus the ~o, e I's m im e ti c am bi ti on s are l '5~elltially S C l : U ~ :even though th e hero 5 ambit.oru could have, 8S in the.case of D o l l

Qu jx o~ (' h im sl '. lf " t ll l~ el es s a nd , n ob le r ('l ig io us a nt ec ed en ts . R e l i g i o U l

na rr ativ e, C hr ist s biography, IS founded upon and originat!!s in U n

mystery of a V irgin B ir th that can never be w holly ve rif ie d, bu t thl lb e se e ch e s r e co g ni ti o n lind un qu alif ie d ac cept anc e. W her eas s e c u l u

narrative, \\ h ich concerns us her", is staked upon and o r ig in a le s I~

the com mon and jndi~putablc fact of human bir th; or, to be m O l '

s ev er e a bo ut it, in the natal banishm ent of m an from im mortality , a n dhi s init iation in to an af llicted family which is not Apostol ic bu t I

problem atic combinat ion of repression and love. This, as S tepbtn .

D cda lus co me s p oi~ n;I IJ1 ly t o kn ow , h as the p rof ou nde st im plica tiO n!

fo r t he v er ba l artist, since t he w or ds of the language he uses ar e lapsN

recollections of th e single Original Word. Narrative lives in Ih!

t em p or al q uo ti di an element, wh ic h c ommemo ra te s th e absence of

t im e le ss my sl er y .

In these m ortal pr inciples, then, narrative contains also the causes

of its own aging and death . In order to be read, a life has to b e

discovered, to be discovered a lile m ust have orig inated, to or ig inal!

is to h~\'e an origin, and to have an orig in the life must be original. INarrative aRirms each of t h es e t au t ol og ie s. It is the manner of thr

a ff ir ma ti on t ha t is crucial: how does narrative aff irm orig ination,

o rr gi na /i ty . o ri gi ns ? By methodically bearing for th the inaugural

promise. In s ho rt , b y m ar ry in g promise to tim e. Hence, f o r i n st a nc e ,

b iog raph y. B ut, Tolsloi says in Anna Karenina, all hap py m ar ria ge s

are the sam !', all unhappy m arr iagr-s difTclcnt. To be orig inal an d

for a life 10 b e k n o . . ..n as such i~,for that life, to be different and novel.

A nd to be d Jf fe r! 'n ! i s 10 frd most of the tim e tha; the course 01o ne's 1Jf e h ilS a n U nco mm on , ev en I Hlha pr }', de stiny . By the tim e the

novel has become a ~PCCillli/cJ Institution of bourgeois society in !h~

nineteenth century it has also lent its nnrrn uvc to nn adulterous

purpose' no longer the m ar ri llg r. b l'l \\'e cn p ro mi se a nd t im e, n llr ra ti ve

.bu become a private R rrallgU llcllt betw een nn orig inal Chnrncte

Sorel, [or example) and his own vcrsi rm of lillie. Such I

I " . .. . t«is hungry (or the distim :liolls of Illnrf' t 1n d m or e 01 iginnlily.

Ja no Jonger the possession of the conununi ry, nor of the

but is rather an illicit d re am of pr ojec ted fulfillment

•• Iea~"e purpose al the end is radically underm ined It

tht b~ ~in nin g by th e r olu sn ls, th e sa cr if ic es, the r en un cia tion s, a nd

t he se lf i shness on which It [s based. A l if e s o li ve d is less an orderly

b iography than it is 8 ser ie s o f c olllsio ns A nd co mpr om ise s. T he d ll-

f .cuhies of R ealism derive from its am biguous att itude to the new

a rr an geme nt m ad e b et we en t im e a nd c ha ra ct er , which s ee ks t o r ep la ce

i he b on ds o f c ommun it y with the c re at iv e, s ub je ct iv e f re ed om o f u n-

rlllcrcd emotion. And ye t this new private af Ta ir - espe cia lly w henIt b ec om c s c om p ul si ve - s ub st i t ut es i rr es po ns ib le c el ib ac y [ or f ru it fu l

marringe, This last remark, I hasten to add, is som etim es ~nly a~

o rt ho do K a nd m or ali st ic v ie w, lo r it neglects to note that celibacy IS

l.!much i r re sp o ns ib le f r l' cd om as it is a constraint or, as I said above,

Iwilled renunciatlon.

Hardy 's Jude and his Lillie Father Time are luck~ess . epigones

(for one can scarcely call them children) of the m id-nineteenth

e en tu ry b ac he lo r p ro ta go ni st s: t it an s li ke C ap ta in Ahab, an d sorrow-

fu l o rp ha ns l ik e Pi p i n D ic ke ns ' Great E xp ectatio ns. In s uc h f ig ur es

thc realistic novelist renders m an's choice to determ ine m an's fate,

b y show ing man renouncing the common destiny. \V h~t destroys

b ot h P i p and Ahab , wh o ar e o th er wise so v a st ly d I ff e re n t III temper-

am ent and energy, is that neither of them ca n pursue the quest that

d r f i n e s t h ei r o r ig i na li ty and, at the same time, par ticipate i.n the

~cncrat i \ 'e processes of li le. T he austere realism of bot~ ~ovels ~ th~t

the narrative of the heroes' lives is based upon an origin (w hich 10

each case is the ir ch ar acte r, or originality) that is deeply flaw ed.

Pip is brought up "by hand" and without a true fam~lr , A hah los~s

h is f am il y wh en he loses his leg. N £'ither o[ them . l:k: Turgenev 5

881Aro" , can have II t r ue b i og r ap h y, A nd the m ore orlginal the fill;"

the m or e sy mm etr ic al th e no ve l's str uc tur e, th e m or e pe rf ec tly, tha t 15,

thnt the novel resern hlcs a kind of dream edifice constructed out of

h o p e s lo si ng t he ir s ub st nu cc , A quest [or w ha t I shm ae l c a l l s th e

ungrnspablc essence ol life - whether that essence is a phantom , I

whale, t he se a, or even tho the')r)' nnd practice of being a gentleman

when one is only a country lnd - can be narrated onl~ at t~e

r ~ pr ll se o f I lo t nnrrnl i l1g the nrdinnry generative process of life. Pips

f r rn t eXJ1cllatiol1~ depend 0 11 1 11 1ngrcrm ent I~ ctw e.cn him , and som e

unknown pl'rmll, w hom he secretly believes IS M iss Havi ham _ HennUcrs himscll that her 11ft, wns stopped on th(' br ink of

o nly th n t she would then I I { ' IIhll' to endow him with the

0 1 n handsome w ill. Y et the' will, in 011(' sense, is hIs own;

more l it er al s on se it is n convict's, w ho is banished from

69



,nWARI)Y.'

w ho compensates for his isolntion by m aking a ~ (,lltlt 'lJInn-son M r, T hese are pnrnllcl llnes thai com e to ignore e ac h o th er completely.

of P IP The revelation. therefore, is thai n arratlvc cannot r ep re se nt , c an no t

One ought not to pr ~ silllilali(,('s between 1\10 such differr !rulf m im e m a rr ia ge , Gild be o ri gi na l f ic ti on at the same t ime, I

b ut so stran ,d) cC>!tbntt ' ,~ovel~ n~ Mol,y Dick nn d Great E X { J c c t a r i o , , " e n tu r c t hi s as a modest corollary to Michel Foucault 's us Mots et

But ~ ha t strikes me '\ I Ih i n cr e as in g fo r . e e ac h t ime I r ea d t he se 'Wolb lu choses, a bo ok wh os e c ap it al i mp or ta nc e [or our understanding o(

f VoII I (!us!' the word in its double sense: as volit ion and as heritogl t h e chang ing relationships between language and its referents during

IS how .Ihc 1I1am cliarnctors d is co ver 1I 11 1t Ih('y havc<ubstitutcd v o l l t l l l the nine te ent h c ent ur y ca nn ot be d en ied .

for heri tage. 1 hcse m C'1\stand to one side o f l i fc '~ j ! :c l1( 'rn th' c procClIII. B uL le t m e r et ur n 10 Dcstnievsky. It is in Tile P osse sse d tha t th e

and ) ~I t hey o ccu py th e 11111rarivo centers of their respective nol'C~ I flOyclistmost i nt en se ly p or tr ay s th e disjunction b et we en c ha ra ct er

In PIP s attempt to [ ill In rh o blnnk of his origins w ith the wealth d \ o rll:i n a nd t he c ha ra ct er 's actions, the rupture that grows into a

:ant8S \, in Ishmaol's ancmpt to embark upon a whaling voyage d c l o u d uf m isu nd er stan din g be tw een w hat the na rr ator tells u s hap pe ns

instruct on, in Ahab's d<'l110'1IC eh .,.e o f M ob )' Dick _ in allth rceti end w hat we think ha s happened. E\cIY relationship in th e n ove l

t he se li nk ed analogi s, th e narrative of adventurous exploits is f i n : defies consummation: m arriages, in other words, are either over.

of all a replacemen fo r tho obscurity o f o r di na ry life, second, a w i l l ie unrecognized. unadrnittcd, unattempted, or de filed . A bov e all they

dro.rt mad~ by the c ha r ac tor 10 live exclusively in the quest o f hi Ir e l am e nt ed ,. b ot h i n ih e ri te a n? o ut si de it. :h e catalogue of abuses

projected aims, and th ird, a discovery that at the beginning ol!hl w ould be an nnm cnse one W('rC It l is te d, a nd It would. add up to the

quest there stands an unw elcom e cipher, that the quest Itself is It novel's r illin g o f our most settled co ntin uitie s. 1 ch oose only one,

attem pted Im pregnation of life by sterile self-will, and that th e tn i be ca use i t is th !' cu lm in atio n and the c en ter o f hum an dise mbo dim en t

of t he qu est is de cip her men t, hy which r mean the e ff ac ('m e nt o f !h i Into which Dostoicvsky th e C hr is ti an w is he d us to pour o ur ne wly -cip her w ith its elucidation by d eath, eith er spiri tual Dr physicnllJ vlullzed faith. Y et the doomed, secular novelist in him . 1 th ink,

both. In each r 0\ cl , ncar the end, there is a p oi gn an t sc en e whc~ t r iumphs nevertheless .

a kind of a lte r-p rota go n.ist is co llec ted in lo the> bosom of a [amil, M y instance is w hen S tavrogin, having refused e\'Cry burden and

~n Greal ~xpectatjons PIp SCI'S linle Pip, Joe's and B id dy 's s on , Rn!' gU t o iTe r l' d h im, having aff irmed and denied (,\U} ti c to others,

InMoby Dick: I sh ma el, n o longer a Pequod iso latto , be co me s a m em b e h R l' i n g , in f ine, asserted his original authentici ty over every attem pt

of the Ra~hd's cr~\\'. The pattern is the pr imary r eje ct io n o f potcrnit) 10domesticate it ei ther in explanation, sculernent or acceptance, gives

by narrative, whlch then Icads to a celibate enterpr ise'. w hich then his w ritten confession tu Tihon. W hat the paradoxical saint Tihon

le ad s ~ o d ea th an d a brief vision of what might have been had th e docs is to show S tavrogin how the confession is repres('ntation, a

narrauve never been w ritten . This is all huw nnrratlve discovers thr narrative that restores the life and its great sin, hut obliterates the

gro~nd of its or i~innli ty in th e ar t ",liNCh), t hr g en cr nt iv c I n cu lty b Innn w ho has lived it. S tnvrogin 's resistance 10 this is honest: fo r

sacrificed to celibate i nd iv id u al hy , lus conlcssion hn~ been, he sa) s, 110 mere representation, no m ere

The P ul'sud, Ih e m ns ex tr aord inn r y of D us to icv sky ", 1I0\'('1~, w i l l rule plnyed [nr nnothcr. The lesson is hard fo r him. and it must be

"lYe me now as, t h~ e xamp le of a still f~I[t1L('r s!nh~ in llnrrafil'c',' borne. I k cannut publish nI1!.! not perish, and so he c ho os es d ea th

deveJ pmg conscrousn ss of its I r us tr n : . .cI nirns, The chic] of fhl'll hy suicide. StilI r og iu s ta nd s e n! ~m a ti cL \l l) ' hi-tween lour o ther c:har-

alms as I said earlier . is to rnnrry innugurnl promise to lime; 10 b~ otters who IILl' Ius: )xm l'd nnd then plunge like him into the void

In other word, the cour c of such a mnrriflJ:", Ih l' isw f ' o] w h l c b bl'twl'rn th e l"l1~du\IS ne t ol w ir hdr aw al fWl11 th e I a l s e n e s s 01 the r

v e ry , e x pl oi ta ti o n, gl'tH'lIn!'), '1 '11( ' n ; i t rath 'c r('prf'SL'I1I~ th l h nb i l l l l 1 l roles <)11 Ille UI1(, hnnd, and on-going chaos on the other-

t~.... l t f 1 N i pr ,lill'rRlIy nlld 111"1' Ipl 11)1 icnlly: We 5PI IH 'I im cs r aU S ho ln \' i s m un h- nx l lilttnlly, S tepan bee 1111'S t he w a nd er in l o r a c l e .

Yct t he c on tl nu ln g hisfr r} of till' IIItl Icrllih «'nlur) ~jtllo\' ('1t'Cls ~l"lfl'Ons(illl" sui ldc , l ind Pyotr disappean lafQ

.ramlinillbig r elation of It gop hctw ocn thr- r"preSI'ntatioN maze StUIllgin t~ their colic uve mystery and when that

th e I rultful, generative princlplo of hurnar, of the C anlO l1 r U ri hang him ell we r e e l . . .

n



7 2

r e a c t e r s . how the narrativ (' des riplion is no w pn,d ding Ihl' silflltItce5 o f d ea th into path Ii \c rbal Ilk

f!W ".\'eS, new lines arc hom Conrnd's M allow norm tcs an 8dv~

lure. which covers a voyage, which r peats words nnd . I. .' '.. JlllpreS IOQ,

which rescnate \\ i th hall '" aUlhorll),. A wordy curtain is bei,.

draVrll 0\,[1' the) R\\ I 'ellie, anchored comfortably just off Lo dIncre . I . I - nOl

~mg y narrauve iccomcs punling ndvcnturo, and chnrnclIII

t lUl l IOta f i gu r es p r cd cqh .l l' d to ~~ar('h out t he ir au tho rs' d esign s. ]DYlI

I mmcd up the aItcrnali\Cs stil] o pe n La llar rat ivc a nd c ha rac ter ,lth ink , .Bnd then he fll~cd them in language. B loom is slubooll

hU Dlll.m ty III e natc_d fron.l the sense of books: no narrat ive, jus

consaous and ~Cml-COItSCJOll' process. S tephen as !I.r[isL is , 111' t h i n b ,

th e self-born mocker of all man's enterprises. the form of forms. B o i l ! ,

despite Ih.emseivcs re-write II~c original nnrrative - The Odylllj

- in which they have been Imerled all along. t\ f athe r b er elt d

his ~, a ~n c:sli~~ off his usurping family: they are Ironicallj

I ID pDSS lb ly m a~T le d Inan Impersonal Ithaca. The resident P c n e l o J i l

performs he r ~Irely A nd maternal roles in the eter nal p os lp on em em

of a speaking dream. We m ight be' ahle to describe th e narrali\"(

predicamenl~ of Faulkner, Icrningway and Ford in sim ilar terms ~t h e s e . although 0 H. Lawrence's fictions nffinll th e f u l l sexua l l il t

powerful narrative rhythms, new units of c om po si ti on , t ha t aim 10

r e pl ac e o th e rw i se 1 0 t C."OlItllluitics with a more private pulse,

In no author's work is narrr tivc 50 m uch the m ausoleum grandl)

eNded over lost or igins as in T. E . Lawrence's. A s in Little Fathrr

, note t he c oi nc id en ce s ill The' SCI'ClI Pillars of 'Wisdom &I!

Irom the b('gfnnin ' E very dream of glory ou t o f W este rn

epic pa t is assembled in th e hook hy t h e schola r-adven ture l '

i ll il tHd lJ lr -a t h r originator. Thl' ~c('n(' is a real World War, Iht

• teIC'Seft gi~'(,11Lawrellce' u y hislory in which 1 0 exccu lr

J I ! I I ! I I ~ . " " . 'on, w irh beginning, m iddle, and end. Th e llarrnlil'!

he ti tan ic lilliom o f D u~ l< Ji ,'v sk y n nr ] M e lv ille w i t h

of an a c mplishcd desert C.1Jl1JlHi~l1. II wns Lawrrnct

p ic k h is goal, his prophc I, 11110 his wnrri()r~ for I h i l

m pa.lgn. A nd these chosen nmhitlons w en- In rr]llar~

An" existence and Moslem Inith, tlw t for 1110Ion!

MltIi l l l l l i I!I" Mecca IIlId M edin», with 011 I 'l ll ir !' p mj cc l,

nom.dlc givens like a grand pat tern for a greal

"' . . to come a story, characters, purpoe

t JnlO Ihe form s of the W C'st: n O l

I :! JWA RO W .I II

Medina and Mccc», b ut J er u sa lem and Damascus, not Me_IIIII.']

l ib She r if f s , b ut C hr ist th e p ro ph et p la ye d by Feisal. not __ ,._

tr ibe s hut a conp;rer;ntion ol the faithful, a People, le d by a _ftlJ~zealo t-I'uu l. A ud a, E ven t h e c la s si c is t in Lawrence could be at_"~F o r here 100 were Troy, A gamemnon, A chi lles and the Greeks.

Iccompl ished then, such IIplnn would be a triumph indeed.

The R aw, however, p reced es th e narrat ive. The flaw Is the authorh l m s c l l , Lawrence, m im ing the A rab and yet acting th e God, tom

belw een his d isguise as participant and h is impe r ia li st ic w in IS un--natural father of the movement. The seven pillars are eredeIl.D am ascus is gained. Ye t the g ap s b et we en th e la rg e b lo ck s of thestructure arc signs of an orig in betrayed in the very procell ofbuilding. In history thus, th e A rabs w in, yet their or iginal aim, •

f i ni sh ed s tn te . is withheld (rom thorn by histor ic al ne ce ssity in the

West . In th e narrat ive, th e book c om ple tes i ts elf , yet its p!Hnimc

resides almost wholly in the traduced aim and the violated inte&ritJ

known only to the author. The text is a m au so leu m c om me mo ratiD I

o secret no longer rem em bered after L aw rence's m ind-suicide after

th e W ar; the secret resem bles the mysterious init ials S . A . that provide

th e render w ith n dedication without II clue, or a death w ithout acorpse. In its reduction to mere textuality, th e book's vir tue, IS

Lawrence wrote Lionel Curtis in 1923 , was its se cr ecy ; o r, as hew rote to V . W, Richards in 1920, his narrative was to be "the-book-

io-build-thchousc." Narrative has come to th is then: a house withoutwomen, without f ulfillm en t, w ith ou t fam ily . Which is \\h y M alr am :

s a y s that "the Arab epic became in Lawrence's mind the m ed ium for

a grandiose expression ol hum an emptiness." A m au so le um .

1 recol lec t )1('1 e t he p as sn gc ncar the end of M ann's D oclor Fcw shlS

where Zcitblcm pnp hi~ [ innl vislt 10 Ad rl cn L ev er kl ih n:

I saw him OI1~C more in 1939, af ter the conquest of Pol_

which his mother, llt eighty, still survived. She led mestulr to his ruorn, enteril1g it with the encouraging wordt.come in . Ill' will n ot u ut lc c youl" while I s to od profounclly

at the dO[)I'. A t Ihl' hUl·k ol the room, on a sora th o hotwlihh \\ a~ 1()\\Ulll~ me, so thut I co uld lo ok . I nto hi s

Iny under II li 'hi w oolen coverlet he that was 0Dtl

L cvorktihn, w hovr: im mortnl par t i now so ctlleLhands. whus« scnsiti. e shape I had alw ays

on his breast, like R snlnt' on a mediaeval

grow n !:rI 'Y l'r , still length ned mOll ..



r .O\\ 'AltD W S~ : . ' n r r n t i l ' t '

"as nOI\ s tr ik in gly li ke · an E I G reco nobleman's, W hat a mock.

ing game Nnlure here played, one might say: presenting A

picture of the utmost spirituality, just there whence the spirituality

had fledl1 he £'ye~ In} deep in their sockets, the brows were

bushier: from under them t h ! ' apparition directed upon me on

unspeakably earnest look. so searching as to be almost threaten.

Ing, It made me quail; but oven in n second it hnd as it were

collapsrd, the eyeball, rolled upwards. hair dis~ppcori(1g under

the lids and cCI'l!;c1cs,lr mcx ing from side to side. I refused the

mother's invitatinn to come closer, and turned weeping away,

On t 1 1 1 : : ~5th of August 1940 the news reached me in Freising

that that remnant of a life had been quenched: II life which hod

gh ell to my 0\\ n. in Ton and eflorr, pride and pain. its esscntinl

content. At the open ,grwe in the Illt le OfJerwcil l' r rhurchynrd

stood 'lith me, beside, the rclativos, Jennette Schcurl, Rudiger

Schildknapp. Kunigulldc Roscnstiel, and M eta Nackedey; also R

stranger. a veiled unknow n, who disappeared as the first clods

fell on the coffin,

in the course of iS existence narrative passes through the s t a g e !

o f li fe, mixing: in fDlltasy with reality to make origin coincide wilh

aim in the elongated text The less an origin derlvcs from th e human

will to life, the more it derives frOI11 the human w i l l to know, 1 0

uncal cr, to rev cal. The time in history a I which linear narrative ne

longer serves. is the tin:e at which the origin is no longer human,

rational, purposive, open 10 the multiplicity of life ami time, It is

covered bu t immanent, logical but unconscious, generative but in.

human, ahislorieal bu t historically masterful. A topical example Is

the rise 10 prominence of structural lill~lti~tic~. A~ the science emerges

in Chomsky's recent work WI ' Iell I 1 1 that we must ncrord man th e

a prior! endowment of 11 l i u g l l j ~ t J C cIJllll'rfl'llt'C cnpnblc of r ,r l lc r n !i ngJanguagl', II Js Ihi~ itl/lule gilt t h n r , I(J Clwrmky, mnhs IlHl!! a mAIL

How arc \\1 In lluiI'c rhi~ nell' pn'judkc? As :l [urthcr vic lory 0 1

Janguage over biology, or as n still rnnrr- traj:(ic rccognililill o f m an 's

Inexorable dlhum811iznt i rm 1)1 hjtl1~df ill his d ('scrip tiom o ] him sclJ,

or as a new thU Jlogiciil kk , 1 of :lIlIi nnrrativr-, ntH; g cuctic h um nnsel fhood?

Thus what concerns us most, whieh is our C '! Jll ti nl li ng h U lI IR n

is now in otlJ('r hands: Mot]t.dgnc and Plntn, the great

man, Lukacs wrote ill D ie S{'I'It' uu d <iiI' Forn: fll , h a v e

~Jjst erltlc, the B e thctlcinn, the C X j l C ' 1 t i n t e r p r e t e r ,

7 5

lhe fabul is t now no longer builds houses of fict ion that breed a dynasty

~character s. Instead the narrator is perhaps the patient who stutters

ut the fragments of his life-history, a history as significant for its

d~)unctions as for its connectives - and all this to another, an

U l o l y s t , wh o reconstructs the meaning but misses the experience. The

rlproductjve principles of life have retreated into the obscur!ty of

molecular codes and generat ive grammars: utterly compressed miracles0 1 conveyance, in which we participate and by which we travel

lnvoluntartly. We look back to the novel then nos[algic~lIy, for ev.en

Il men assumes autonomy in the novel, his late there IS a narrative

mntinuity t ra gi ca ll y i nc omp le te when he denies, and satisfactorily

tompletc when he affirms, his performance in the ~mmon hu.~an

, l im e , Thus what ends in the mausoleum, or 111 the lit tle Oberv;e~er

ehurchynnl, hns received burial by human hands and a fitting

monument . \Vhat will happen 10 us now, when Vie dead awaken

I n t o new forms of liie, is II question the essayist must pose: but

w h e t h e r it is the old artist who can answer, is uncertain,

reflections on exile - said, edward

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