i'm by no means new to the list. for those who may remember, i wrote a
while back on foucault and communication/media. i follow the list
carefully, although mostly i'm in hiding, like a lot of lurkers.
i am struck by the construction of the "oriental" philosophy of recent
posts. even the constructions of the arguments derive from explicitly
western conceptions of the "orient." having read said, myself, and
having assumed said is, for most critical theorists, an assumed presence,
i am shocked by the level of "orientalism" recently embedded in
discussions of foucault as a marker on the road to an idealized and
precisely western conception of "eastern" philosophies. the desire to
attribute certain features to "oriental" philosphy and then to invoke the
desired wester subject who fulfills that construction marks the moment of
orientalization, the construction of eastern mystique and silent beauty.
perhaps we can begin to work against such a construction rather than
introducing it as a citation of "western" superiority on knowledge.
Kent Ono
------------------
while back on foucault and communication/media. i follow the list
carefully, although mostly i'm in hiding, like a lot of lurkers.
i am struck by the construction of the "oriental" philosophy of recent
posts. even the constructions of the arguments derive from explicitly
western conceptions of the "orient." having read said, myself, and
having assumed said is, for most critical theorists, an assumed presence,
i am shocked by the level of "orientalism" recently embedded in
discussions of foucault as a marker on the road to an idealized and
precisely western conception of "eastern" philosophies. the desire to
attribute certain features to "oriental" philosphy and then to invoke the
desired wester subject who fulfills that construction marks the moment of
orientalization, the construction of eastern mystique and silent beauty.
perhaps we can begin to work against such a construction rather than
introducing it as a citation of "western" superiority on knowledge.
Kent Ono
------------------