--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic…" description: "\"“Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of accumulation. Far from this being exclusively an intellectual or theoretical feature, it made O..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/edward-w-said-17556_discipline_modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic_228256.jpg" --- # Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of… ![“Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of accumulation. Far from this being exclusively an intellectual or theoretical feature, it made Orientalism tend fatally towards the systematic accumulation of human beings and territories. To reconstruct a dead or lost Oriental language meant…” quote by Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/edward-w-said-17556_discipline_modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic_228256.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/edward-w-said-17556_discipline_modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic_228256.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/120/edward-w-said-17556_discipline_modern-orientalism-embodies-a-systematic_228256.jpg) > ““Modern Orientalism embodies a systematic discipline of accumulation. Far from this being exclusively an intellectual or theoretical feature, it made Orientalism tend fatally towards the systematic accumulation of human beings and territories. To reconstruct a dead or lost Oriental language meant ultimately to reconstruct a dead or neglected Orient; it also meant that reconstructive precision, science, even imagination could prepare the way for what armies, administrators, and bureaucracies would later do on the ground.”” [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Orientalism systematically accumulates control over peoples and lands, using language to justify domination. **In simple terms:** Colonial discourse turns culture into a tool for conquest. Key Takeaway Recognize and challenge cultural narratives that enable oppression. Themes colonialism power language representation Mood critical analytical Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - academic analysis - policy making - education curricula Key Concepts postcolonial theory cultural studies political science Questions to Reflect On - How does language shape power structures? - What alternatives to dominant narratives exist? A Different Perspective Critique may oversimplify complex histories. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discipline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discipline/) [Orientalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/orientalism/) ## Related quotes > [“In a sense the limitations of Orientalism are, as I said earlier, the limitations that follow upon disregarding, essentializing, denuding the humanity of another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/in-a-sense-the-limitations-of-orientalism-are-as-i-said-earlier-the/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Orientalism is after all a system for citing works and authors . \_\_ Orientalism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/orientalism-is-after-all-a-system-for-citing-works-and-authors/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-writer-on-the-orient-and-this-is-true-even-of-homer-assumes/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [ While \[European\] national cultures were concocted to distinguish one economic unit of capital from another, civilizational thinking was invented to unify these cultures against… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hamid-dabashi/while-european-national-cultures-were-concocted-to-distinguish-one/) Hamid Dabashi > [The sense of Islam as a threatening Other - with Muslims depicted as fanatical, violent, lustful, irrational - develops during the colonial period in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/the-sense-of-islam-as-a-threatening-other-with-muslims-depicted-as/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [I think it is less the limited amount of information than the filters that information about the Middle East must pass through before being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-a-falk/i-think-it-is-less-the-limited-amount-of-information-than-the-filters/) [Richard A. Falk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-a-falk/) > [ I emphasize in it \[my Orientalism\] accortdingly that neither the term Orient nor the concept of the West has any ontological stability; each is… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/i-emphasize-in-it-my-orientalism-accortdingly-that-neither-the-term/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) > [“At this point, the sequence of my memories is disrupted. 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Is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/waswo-x-waswo-2/my-studio-team-and-i-approached-the-creation-of-this-series-with/) Waswo X Waswo > [“After two years' absence she finally returned to chilly Europe, a trifle weary, a trifle sad, disgusted by our banal entertainments, our shrunken landscapes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/octave-mirbeau/after-two-years-absence-she-finally-returned-to-chilly-europe-a/) [Octave Mirbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/octave-mirbeau/) ## More by Edward W. Said > [“Not one of our political spokespeople—the same is true of the Arabs since Abdel Nasser’s time—ever speaks with self-respect and dignity of what we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/not-one-of-our-political-spokespeople-the-same-is-true-of-the-arabs/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“It remains the professional Orientalist's job to piece together a portrait, a restored picture as it were, of the Orient or the Oriental; fragments,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/it-remains-the-professional-orientalist-s-job-to-piece-together-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Intellectual representations are the activity itself, dependent on a kind of consciousness that is skeptical, engaged, unremittingly devote to rational investigation and moral judgement;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/intellectual-representations-are-the-activity-itself-dependent-on-a/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Out of this unstable mix of technocracy and national security you have a nostalgia developing for colonialism or religion—atavistic in my opinion, but some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/out-of-this-unstable-mix-of-technocracy-and-national-security-you/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every writer on the Orient (and this is true even of Homer) assumes some Oriental precedent, some previous knowledge of the Orient, to which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-writer-on-the-orient-and-this-is-true-even-of-homer-assumes/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Music requires a particular type of education which is simply not given to most people. And, as a result, it’s set further apart. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/music-requires-a-particular-type-of-education-which-is-simply-not/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“No one today is purely one thing. Labels like Indian, or woman, or Muslim, or American are not more than starting-points, which if followed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/no-one-today-is-purely-one-thing-labels-like-indian-or-woman-or/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“They weren't like us and for that reason deserved to be ruled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/they-weren-t-like-us-and-for-that-reason-deserved-to-be-ruled/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Liberation as an intellectual mission, born in the resistance and opposition to the confinements and ravages of imperialism, has now shifted from the settled,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/liberation-as-an-intellectual-mission-born-in-the-resistance-and/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Criticism must think of itself as life-enhancing and constitutively opposed to every form of tyranny, domination, and abuse; its social goals are non-coercive knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/criticism-must-think-of-itself-as-life-enhancing-and-constitutively/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“The Orient is watched, since its almost (but never quite) offensive behavior issues out of a reservoir of infinite peculiarity; the European, whose sensibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/the-orient-is-watched-since-its-almost-but-never-quite-offensive/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“There has been no major revolution in modern history without intellectuals; conversely there has been no major counterrevolutionary movement without intellectuals. Intellectuals have been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/there-has-been-no-major-revolution-in-modern-history-without/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Texts are not finished objects.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/texts-are-not-finished-objects/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Orientalism is after all a system for citing works and authors . \_\_ Orientalism”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/orientalism-is-after-all-a-system-for-citing-works-and-authors/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) > [“Every empire, however, tells itself and the world that it is unlike all other empires, that its mission is not to plunder and control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-w-said/every-empire-however-tells-itself-and-the-world-that-it-is-unlike-all/) [Edward W. Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) [Explore all 22 Edward W. Said quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-w-said/) ## More Discipline quotes > [Christianity was never meant to be defined by its disciplines, but by its passions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-johnson/christianity-was-never-meant-to-be-defined-by-its-disciplines-but-by/) [Bill Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-johnson/) > [Grit and self-control are related, but they're not the same thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-duckworth/grit-and-self-control-are-related-but-they-re-not-the-same-thing/) [Angela Duckworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-duckworth/) > [“Peace requires a discipline more iron than war. - Easter, 1939 ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-j-turner/peace-requires-a-discipline-more-iron-than-war-easter-1939/) W.J. Turner > [You can't have the fruits without the roots. It's the principle of sequencing: Private Victories proceed Public Victories. 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