Orientalism

This book is a great overview and as noted by many others, a true work of literary genius. Colonial subjects, such as Said himself, have a hard time placing themselves in the mess of Colonialism and the supposed Post-Colonial era we live in and this book aids in that coming to terms process. Said manages to marry the subjectivity of his reality with the brilliant grasp of academia. A Must read by all, to gain a better idea of the world and times we live in.

Drawing upon the work of Michel Foucault, Edward Said claims that Western ideas of the `Orient' are not based upon objective facts but are created through academic and cultural `discourses' which serve to promote Western imperialism - often despite `liberal' intentions.

This mythical `East' is the antithesis of the West, a negative or inversion of the 'Occident' which is used to define *both* in binary opposition to each other, and to facilitate the political and domination of the East.

However in order to demonstrate the existence of this `Orientalism' Said falls back on an equally stereotypical and monolithic `West' which he constructs entirely from the carefully selected writings of a handful of 19th Century middle-class, white, male English and French authors.

This tactic not only ignores or misrepresents a large body of Western authors sympathetic to the East and sensitive to differences within it, but also glosses over Western heterogenities of class, race, sex, religion and generation in order to manufacture a homogenous `Occident' devoid of differences.

Said is as guilty of *Occidentalism* as those he criticises are of *Orientalism*.

Said fails to provide any evidence that the `West' defines itself in binary opposition to a mythical `East' that Western scholars have created for just this purpose; he simply *manufactures* the kind of `West' necessary to explain the myths about the `East' that he himself has constructed from a very limited number of Western sources.

He has created his own mythical `East' *and* `West' from a small number of literary texts which he then projects onto others and thinks he has *discovered* rather than *invented*.

The book came on time (before college started) and it was in lovely condition :)

It is interesting, as a brazilian, to realize Said's resentment resembles one of a similar kind which portraits Latin America as the victim of American Imperialism. Latin american intellectuals share the same hate, anger and paranoia towards US.
This may be why to this day brazilian academics force this appaling book down their students throats.
You dont need to be a clinical psychologist to figure this one out: a scape goat is a helpful tool to cope with one's own stupid decisions in life.

The late Edward Said's "Orientalism" influenced an entire generation of Arab and Muslim scholars, not to mention Middle Eastern Studies departments in universities throughout the West, to believe that the Islamic world was from the start a passive victim of the West. Whenever you hear or read about Western abuses to the "Other" or justifications of violence directed at Westerners, Said's text is often the reason why.

For that reason, "Orientalism" is a work whose influence cannot be overstated.

That being said, the historical errors in the text are legion, and apparent to anyone with even a cursory knowledge of history.

According to Said:

-the eastern Mediterranean was controlled, not by the Ottomans, but by England and France in the 1600s
-Egypt was annexed by England
-the first Muslims conquered Turkey before taking North Africa, when it was the Seljuk Turks in the 11th century who took Anatolia
-Pakistan was a British colony separate from India, and not created upon the British withdrawal from India
-Portugal dominated the Far East until the 19th century, when Portuguese power diminished there in the 17th century

Among others.

And so I give it 3 stars. For all it's errors it should merit just 1 star, but to this day it remains a highly influential text. So like that old forgery the "Donation of Constantine," its importance comes not from actual fact, but from its wide acceptance.