What I found most striking in Reflections on Exile was Said's extension of the word "exile" beyond its common use. A large portion of this essay deals with the idea of exile as it is commonly construed, as a state of being physically uprooted from one's home. Thus construed, exile is linked to imperialism in the many ways we discussed in class. For example, Noble Sahib's portrayal of Muslims as a martial race who ruled by the sword, as we discussed in class, illustrates the kind of colonial narrative that eroded the Muslim sense of belonging in the subcontinent. But Said's extension of the idea of exile beyond the purely geographical realm, to the domain of thought and experience, opens up an entirely different view of the process of imperialism.
As Said points out, it is in the "drawing of lines" around one that the least attractive aspects of exile are seen. Because of the dialectical relationship between exile and nationalism, the same can be said for the latter. Thus, exile and nationalism are both constructed upon lines of communal identity, which inform the community's shared modes of expression and experience. In the imperial state of India, the lines between European ruler and homeless Muslim subject were reified, on the one hand, by the impurity associated with European ways of life in traditional circles, and the savage and uncouth image of Muslims held by the British. The lines between Muslim and European defined the social order in Imperial India and, it goes without saying, were not meant to be crossed. When a member of one group did move past the boundary of his own community, into the territory of the Other, this would result in confusion and insecurity on both sides. This explains the reactions Ibn-ul-Waqt draws from those around him; the instance where he is questioned by a fellow Muslim for sharing crockery with Noble Sahib, while the latter was under his protection, and the disdain with which Noble Sahib's servants viewed him at dinner. Both instances were reactions to Ibn-ul-Waqt's movement between sharply drawn communal divides, and were so emphatically rigid in nature because this movement exposed the fluidity of what were assumed to be well-defined identities. Said, I believe, hails the state of exile, in its extended, existential sense, for this very reason. The exile, after all, is in a unique position to challenge and bring into question the very modes of thought and experience which undergird the phenomenon of imperialism.
As Said points out, it is in the "drawing of lines" around one that the least attractive aspects of exile are seen. Because of the dialectical relationship between exile and nationalism, the same can be said for the latter. Thus, exile and nationalism are both constructed upon lines of communal identity, which inform the community's shared modes of expression and experience. In the imperial state of India, the lines between European ruler and homeless Muslim subject were reified, on the one hand, by the impurity associated with European ways of life in traditional circles, and the savage and uncouth image of Muslims held by the British. The lines between Muslim and European defined the social order in Imperial India and, it goes without saying, were not meant to be crossed. When a member of one group did move past the boundary of his own community, into the territory of the Other, this would result in confusion and insecurity on both sides. This explains the reactions Ibn-ul-Waqt draws from those around him; the instance where he is questioned by a fellow Muslim for sharing crockery with Noble Sahib, while the latter was under his protection, and the disdain with which Noble Sahib's servants viewed him at dinner. Both instances were reactions to Ibn-ul-Waqt's movement between sharply drawn communal divides, and were so emphatically rigid in nature because this movement exposed the fluidity of what were assumed to be well-defined identities. Said, I believe, hails the state of exile, in its extended, existential sense, for this very reason. The exile, after all, is in a unique position to challenge and bring into question the very modes of thought and experience which undergird the phenomenon of imperialism.
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