Returning to Edward Said in times of uncertainty: Discourse, power, and space

Abstract

The Palestinian scholar Edward Said's 1978 work, Orientalism, marked a turning point in the ways of denaturalizing and contextualizing the Western matrix of representation of the peripheries, and consequently, of "other" cultures. This work drew on a strong foundation in literary criticism, but its postulates contributed to and opened up debate across different disciplines and themes. Orientalism is simultaneously a field of scholarly study and a form of domination. Furthermore, Orientalism became a powerful tool for constructing (both symbolically and materially) spaces to "know," transform, conquer, and dominate. On the other hand, the discursive practices employed by the West have managed to endure and consolidate over time, not only because they found ways to shift to other power structures, but also because they operate through a network of power relations that function in a multi-scalar and multidimensional manner.

In this article, we will engage in a dialogue with three of the author's works: Orientalism (1978), Culture and Imperialism (1993), and Out of Place (1999), to understand the links between discourse, power, and space. That is, how discourse and power become spatialized, shedding their abstract and enunciative character to configure new territorialities (Sack 1986). Finally, this proposal will seek to address these themes from a spatial perspective to understand how these phenomena (discourse and power) are developing within territories.