MythFactMyth

A myth is a widely accepted, yet false belief or idea. A fact is something that is undoubtably proven to be true. What I found most interesting about Said's arguement was the way he demonstrated the blurry line between the two - two things that are ultimately complete opposites. It made me think about just how many things that we unconsciously consider facts are most likely myths when talking about cultures which we have not first-hand experienced.  Said blurs the line between myth and fact when he explains that the studies of these cultures were often self-fulfilling and that they "discovered nothing more or less than the terms of their inquiry were able to allow: mystical religious devotion and an absence of rationality." In this sense, the aspects "defining" Eastern culture to the Western world were created with the purpose of seeking out abnormality only to justify power. It's as if a definition was created before the word it stood for. 

When the fishbowl was asked the question of personal experiences in relation to Orientalism and it has effected our own views, I found it interesting that the only way anyone could really distinguish between a myth or fact about a culture was by living in one. Without having personal experiences with defining aspects of a culture, the entirety of what we know of it comes from these "widely accepted" notions. What we consider fact is merely a "created body of theory and practice" that we have held onto and passed down throughout generations. Somehow along the way, a myth got stamped as a fact, and we ran with it.