Response to Edward Said’s and Leila Ahmed’s Respective Positions on Edward Lane

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Paper 3
“An Account of The Manners and Customs of the Modern Egyptians” by Edward William Lane is a seminal work published in 1836. The book is an encyclopedia on the manners and customs of modern Egyptians. It has been described by some to be an authoritative description of Arabs and Muslims living in Egypt with generations of scholars and travelers praising its objectiveness, detail, and insights (Lane 2). However, some critics like Edward Said have faulted the book for cultural egotism and argued that Lane’s work is an example of Western prejudices and stereotypes about the East. On the other hand, other literary critics like Leila Ahmed have commended the book for providing an accurate portrayal of Egyptian society and culture. This essay will examine the two distinct positions of Said and Ahmed on Lane’s work. It will argue that Lane’s work reflects a deep admiration for Egyptian culture and provides an accurate and detailed description of their daily routines, beliefs, and social norms.
Said criticizes Lanes’ work for lacking authenticity and assuming a narrative structure laden with Orientalist restructuring and detail. While he credits Lane’s dispassionate observation of Egyptian customs and society for the book’s objectivity and scholarly tone, Said believes that the author obtained information in a one-way exchange (Ahmed 3). According to Said, Lane only observed and wrote down what he perceived to be useful knowledge for Europe and its institutions rather than for Egyptians. The literary critic is especially distrustful of Lane’s masquerade as an Orient, which allowed him to gain the confidence of people who would have otherwise refused to provide him with the contents of the book. Unlike other scholars like Burckhardt, Lane chose to submerge himself in Egyptian culture by living like the natives and conforming to their habits in order to collect unbiassed information. Said argues that this attempt at objectivity was egotistical since it allowed Lane to secretly experience, comment on, and possess another culture from a European standpoint.
According to the critic, Lane did not submerge himself in Egyptian culture in order to remain objective but to intrude upon their customs while retaining his conceited European identity: “As narrator, Lane is both exhibitor and exhibitor…the Oriental one for engaging companionship (or so it seems) and the Western one for authoritative, useful knowledge”. Moreover, Said also accuses Lane’s book of regularly interrupting his monumental descriptions of the Egyptians with untidy details. This literal disengagement from the essential facets of Oriental ...