Social Spaces as man-made History

We must take seriously Vico’s great observation that men make their own

history, that what they can know is what they have made, and extend it to

geography: as both geographical and cultural entities – to say nothing of

historical entities – such locales, regions, geographical sectors as

‘Orient’ ad ‘Occident’ are man-made. Therefore as much as the West itself,

the Orient is an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought,

imagery, and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence for the

West.

(Edward Said)