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Dangerous Knowledge: Orientalism and Its Discontents

robert irwin

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The publication of Edward Said's hugely influential Orientalism in 1981 called into question the entire history of the Western study of Islamic culture, condemning this scholarly tradition as one that presented inaccurate and deliberately demeaning representations of Islamic peoples and institutions—so much so that the words "Oriental" and "Orientalist" have come to take on the most negative connotations.

But what is Orientalism, and who were the Orientalists, and how did Western scholars of Islamic culture come to be vilified as insidious agents of European imperialism? In Robert Irwin's groundbreaking new history, he answers this question with a detailed and colorful story of the motley crew of intellectuals and eccentrics who brought an understanding of the Islamic world to the West. In a narrative that ranges from an analysis of Ancient Greek perceptions of the Persians to a portrait of the first Western European translators of Arabic to the contemporary Muslim world's perceptions of the Western study of Islam, Irwin affirms the value of the Orientalists' legacy: not only for the contemporary scholars who have disowned it, but also for anyone committed to fostering the cross-cultural understanding which could bridge the real or imagined gulf between Islamic and Western civilization. Dangerous Knowledge is a both riveting and entertaining history, a bold argument, and an urgent redress of our conceptions about Western culture's relationship with its nearest neighbor.

376 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,2006

This edition

Format
376 pages, Hardcover
Published
January 1, 2006 by Overlook
ISBN
9781585678358
ASIN
158567835X
Language
English

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robert irwin

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Rating(3.7 / 5.0, 28 votes)
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28 reviews All reviews
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Noshor5998
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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این کتاب در رد کتاب شرق‌شناسی ادوارد سعید است. نویسنده در فصل اول توضیحاتی درباره‌ی هدفش می‌دهد و بعد چندین فصل را اختصاص می‌دهد به مروری بر اسامی شرق‌شناسان و کارهای آن‌ها. در دو فصل پایانی به هدف خودش برمی‌گردد و انتقاداتش از سعید و دیگر مخالفان شرق‌شناسی را توضیح می‌دهد. این فصل‌های میانی حجم زیادی دارد و مثل رمان‌های روسی، آدم در میان اسامی گم می‌شود. فرقش با رمان‌های روسی هم این است که خط داستانی خاصی ندارد. بااین‌حال، قلم نویسنده و تسلط و سواد مترجم باعث می‌شود لذت روشنفکرانه‌ای از این فصول هم نصیب خواننده بشود.
کتاب ادوارد سعید البته جدلی است. من نگاهی به آن کرده‌ام و به دلم ننشست. نهایت چیزی که توانستم از آن دریافت کنم این بود که شرق‌شناسان مشکل روش‌شناختی داشته‌اند و با افزایش آشنایی با شرق و گسترش دانش و منابع، امکان اصلاح دیدگاه‌های آن‌ها بوده. نویسنده‌ی این کتاب هم به مشکلات زیادی اشاره می‌کند، از جمله اینکه رابطه‌ی بین استعمار و شرق‌شناسی بی‌پایه است. شرق‌شناسی عمدتاً در آلمان بالیده است که هیچ‌وقت استعمارگر بزرگی نبوده. در انگلستان هم که استعمارگر بزرگی بوده، توجه زیادی به شرق‌شناسی و زبان‌های شرقی نمی‌شده است مگر در این اواخر. کارگزاران استعمار تحت تاثیر تربیت کلاسیک بوده‌اند و خود را در جایگاه رومیان می‌دیده‌اند و خبر چندانی از فعالیت‌ها و مطالعات شرق‌شناسان نداشته‌اند که بخواهند تحت‌تأثیرشان قرار بگیرند. اگر قرار بوده در جایی رابطه‌ای بین استعمار و شرق‌شناسان باشد در روسیه بوده که سرزمین‌های مسلمان‌نشین آسیای میانه را فتح می‌کرده‌اند. اما سعید اصلا گویی از شرق‌شناسی روسیه بی‌خبر بوده است.
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loungyoo
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Can I give this six stars? Irwin demolishes the "truthiness" that undermines this field.
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killerhuglady
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Is this the same book as one titled: 'For Lust of Knowing: The Orientalists and their enemies by any chance?
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Andy90
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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For my purposes it could have been a nice essay rather than a book. 90% is a dry review of history, followed by 7% adulation of Bernard Lewis and the pillory of Edward Said, then an interesting 3% at the very end summarizing the subjects view of the Orientalist. It also provides an interesting reading list.
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Loba
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Irwin sees and criticizes the personal flaws, intellectual faults and prejudices of the Orientalists but is able to see their strengths at the same time. At the end of the book, he quotes Ernest Gellner's review of Edward Said, "“Truth is not linked to political virtue (either directly or inversely)…Like the rain, truth falls on both the just and the unjust.” He makes the effort in "Dangerous Knowledge" to see the truth where it falls even if it falls in the camp of the otherwise unjust.

I can understand people's unhappiness with his critique of Said, not for his argument (which sounds reasonable and thought out to me) but for his tone which is unnecessarily sarcastic. When he writes, “One may feel tempted by this sort of argument, though, of course, if Said and his allies do not feel bound to respect facts, there is no reason why their critics should do so either, for if it is permissible to misrepresent Orientalism, Christianity and British imperialism, it would not be so obviously wrong similarly to misrepresent Islam, Arab history or the Palestinian predicament," I want to ask why he needs to say this. It seems childishly petulant. Anger at Said may be behind his argument, may drive it, but it should not enter into his argument. "Obviously," he writes, "I find it impossible to believe that his book was written in good faith." He should know that hobby horses want and will be ridden. What drives a scholar, no less than what drives a politician, or a writer, or any other person, may be as emotional as intellectual. Argue with Said's scholarship but don't impugn his honesty.
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Rei965
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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یک کتاب خشن و خوب. همانطور که هرکتاب دیگری اگر بتواند اینطوری ما شرقی/ خاورمیانه‌ای/ مسلمان‌ها را با توهمات باستانی‌‌مان مواجه کند، خوب خواهد بود. که به قدر کافی در سال‌های اخیر غرب و شرق ما را لوس و ستایش کرده‌اند و ما هم با لذت این تعاریف را بازنشر داده‌ایم و نان غربی زیر بغل شرقی‌ خودمان گذاشته‌ایم. حالا این وسط، کمی به رخ کشیدن اشتباهات و جهالت‌های ما خیلی به جا خواهد بود، به خصوص اگر مثل کار رابرت اروین، دست روی یکی از حساس‌ترین نقاط ناموس ملی ما گذاشته شود: غیرت‌مان نسبت به اینکه دیگران آنطور که باید و شاید ازمان تعریف نکرده باشند.
که باعث میشود مهمترین نقطه ضعف کتاب قابل تحمل باشد، اگروقت اضافی برای خواندنش وجود داشته باشد: اینکه خیلی ربطی به آن چیزی که ادعا کرده ندارد و به جز یک مقدمه و موخره، اصل کتاب صرفا تاریخی پرجزئیات از سیر مطالعات شرق شناسی در غرب است. مفید تقریبا برای هیچ کس.
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Paul_S118
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 17,2025
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Instantly forgettable. I had forgotten I had read it actually though I vaguely remembered some parts. He just doesn’t get Edward Said’s critique bless his cotton socks. His defence of orientalist studies is only incidentally relevant to Said.

Some nice anecdotes, I seem to remember.
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