A critical reaction to Edward Said's essay: [The presentation of Narrative in Lord Jim]

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A critical reaction to Edward Said's essay: [The presentation of Narrative in Lord Jim]

By Philip Markwick. April 2003

Said has propelled the post-colonial/Orientalism approach to literary criticism into interesting places for the modern reader. Complicating the political approach and critical meanings that we the (non-other) reader takes from the novel about colonial history. Language is the active issue of reading and representation (that all readers must engage with) when forming opinion on the text. The postcolonial political approach is, of course, easy to summarise. As understanding and approaches to the countries that do not happen to be members of the privileged 'west' and their peoples have changed. So too has our approach to 'our' history, the view to 'their' history. Colonial and cultural Imperialism being a well-recognised mistake of the western world's history, through revaluation of the human cost it has made on its victims. As well as the now 'dubious' approach to the justifications the enlightened world made of itself. For example... John Lock's belief that the right to own land belonged to those who would 'work' it rather than those who are 'on' it was used as justification for the seizure of the 'new