pp. 269-299

Arab intellectuals and Parisian orientalism, 1955-1980 : how should we conceive of changing knowledge in the humanities ?

French knowledge of the Arab world changed profoundly between 1950 and 1980. Considering the case of Arab intellectuals in Paris universities, the article analyzes the types of logic that fueled this epistemological change. Specifically, it circumscribes the relevance of an institutional explanation : knowledge of the ways that academic and scientific institutions changed is essential for grasping the process under study, but that kind of development does not fully account for the complexity of the process. The changes in knowledge seem characterized by multiple time frames, ambivalent and sometimes contradictory movements –in contradistinction to the more linear development of institutions. Studying the trajectories and writings of Arab intellectuals allows for a more complex vision of the stages involved in humanities knowledge change.