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(Occident is the Latin-derived term for the Western world, the counterpart to the Eastern Orient.) These concepts reduce the complexity of diverse human societies, languages, cultures, and histories into near-meaningless generalities that ultimately serve to obscure the humanity of the people to whom they refer. Edward Said first published Orientalism in 1978 and the book has continued to open readers' eyes to the true effects of biased thought. He mentioned two 18th century intellectuals who spearheaded the transition of Orientalism from literary to scientific knowledge. For this purpose, he reviews the careers of leading Islamicists of that time like French scholar Lovis Massignon and the English historian Hamilton Gibb. As an adjective the word qualifies anything belonging to the East. Orientalism expresses and represents that part culturally and even ideologically as a a mode of discourse with supporting institutions, vocabulary, scholarship, imagery, doctrines, even colonial bureaucracies and colonial styles. Keep reading for Edward Saids answer to the question: what is Orientalism? Drop me a line anytime, whether its about any queries or demands or just to share your well-being. It is the field of writing, research and teaching about the orient. By defining orientalism in general is the term used by the historians, geographers, literary and cultural studies scholars when the studying the Middle Eastern, South Asian, African, East Asian culture or so called Eastern Culture, language and people by exaggerating, emphasizing and their way of . Orientalism. Whether youre conscious of it or not, you likely have a vivid mental image of what the Middle East looks and sounds like. One of Edward Saids central ideas in Orientalism is that knowledge about the East is generated not through actual facts, but through imagined constructs. This was partly the result of his inclinations, character, and training. They projected the orientals to the Western World in romantic and mythological manner. These images are actually the negative caricatures of Arab and Islamic culture. He tells the readers that the greater understanding of the topic can help in the unlearning of the processes of cultural domination and prejudiced stance. What keeps Orientalism flourishing and relevant is its consistent and active traffic between a variety of fields. The vision of Orient, Said stated that, existed as far back as the ancient Greeks. His mother was a Lebanese and his father was a Palestinian book merchant. While the Orientalist scholars were the seers, the observers, the students, and the subject. Said begins this chapter with a discussion of Orientalism in the 1920s and 1930s. And certain passages are more easily read as political and polemical rather than as scholarly and academic, even if this was almost certainly not Edwards original intention. Functionalist Racism and Saids Solution, 5. For example, the racist discourse and dogmas of Earnest Renan in the 1840s. In the second chapter Edward Said talks about structures and restructures of orientalism. Reading and thinking about Orientalism when it was first published I, and some but not many of my colleagues, experienced a great sense of relief. . The basis of Said's argument in Orientalism is that the concept of the "Orient" as understood and used by the Westspecifically France, England, and the United Statesis not the "real" Orient. Edward Said himself was well aware of what we were attempting via our Review of Middle East Studies having had his attention drawn to it by Fred Halliday, a very important figure in my story. Under the subtitle The Last Phase, Edward Said reviews Post-War II Orientalism as the United States came to be the center of activity with regard to the East. Friday essay: 5 museum objects that tell a story of colonialism and its legacy. In this latest phase, the highly qualified American area specialists took the lead replacing the earlier philologists. The knowledge of the Orient, though flawed, provided the power base from which the colonizers set about their mission. Why? Political and social ideas that were manipulated and implanted by the British mainly dominating the East during colonization. Even though the colonizers often thought they were bringing enlightenment to the uncivilized people, this paternalistic attitude was still as racist as the other forms of dominative theoretical frameworks. While the term has been used to describe countries in East and South Asia, Said mainly focuses on how its used in relation to Southwest Asia and North Africa, or the Middle East. Here is a brief summary of all three chapters in Edward Saids, In this chapter, Said traces the development of modern Orientalism by presenting a broadly chronological description. The Arabic text on the wall is pure gibberish.if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[580,400],'elifnotes_com-mobile-leaderboard-1','ezslot_12',132,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-elifnotes_com-mobile-leaderboard-1-0'); In Orientalism, Edward Said has used various derivatives of the word Orient which literally means the East, the direction from which the sun rises. All this has had unfortunate consequences. Said suggests that the orient does not mean the same to American as it does to the European countries, Said says that orientalism refers to academic interpretation. Said also defines Orientalism as a western technique which they had used to colonized the world. The Middle East Institute (MEI) is an independent, non-partisan, non-for-profit, educational organization. means a person who studies or writes about the Orient. Orientalism has been translated into 36 languages (as of 2003) and remains a classic available in most bookstores. Said then proposes a third definition of Orientalism, using an analysis It was Saids hope that his work would help break the bonds that Orientalism has held and is holding over the subaltern world. The West found itself in positions of political and military power over what it saw as the Orient and subsequently used this power to subjugate it. Edward Said defines Orientalism as an academic discipline only emerged with colonial occupations of the Middle East and India by Western powers. Hence it provides a reason for not taking the work of a huge number of scholars of the Middle East with the academic respect it deserves, even when, as in the case of most social scientists at least, their work has little or nothing to do with Orientalism, either in praise or blame. But, as a pattern of knowledge, it preceded colonialism. Though there is an extensive body of scholarship on the operation of xenophobic discourses in literature, theoretical approaches are invariably indebted to the work of Edward Said, whose study of Western construction of the Orient concluded that Orientalism, as a hegemonic discourse, was a means by which the Oriental Other could be dominated. Third, Orientalism is a corporate institution for dealing with the Orient beginning in the eighteenth century. He also attempts to trace it by describing a set of devices usually common to the works of popular artists, poets, and scholars. The West uses the word in its relation to the East. Third, points one and two are produced and reinforced by viewing the Orient as a homogenous group. The political knowledge of the Orientalists gave traction to the power of the subjugators. Said admits that his understanding of orientalism is based on personal dimension as he had witnessed the prejudices of the Westerners towards the orient. But Orientalist perceptions didnt simply disappear after the colonial period. Europeans thought that they were biologically superior to orientals. It is because of Orientalism that the Orient was not (and is not) a free subject of thought or action. Orientalism is a hegemonic discourse for Said: these essentialist assumptions of Western superiority over Eastern cultures serve the ruling world powers and are manifested throughout all forms of discourse including literature, research and conversation both due to, and in order to, perpetuate the power of these dominant groups. This was another example of knowledge as power. Orientalism is a constant one, and since the late eighteenth century there has been a considerable, quite disciplined-perhaps even regulated-traffic between the two. Even generalized terms like West, East, Orient, and Occident are products of Orientalism, artificially separating complex cultures into monolithic, separate, and opposed moral spheres. Said examines these works with reference to the social, political, and economic contexts from which they emerged. The price of this so-called salvation is the agency and self-determination of these populations. Said also claimed a subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic people and their culture. Rather, it is a constructed understanding of what citizens believe the Orient to be. In "Orientalism," published two decades into a conventional academic career, Said unexpectedly described himself as an "Oriental subject" and implicated almost the entire Western canon, from. The theme that Said spent the most time developing and producing examples in, The specialist does the immediate translation of mere Oriental matter into useful substance: the Oriental becomes, for example, a subject race, an example of Oriental mentality, all for the enhancement of the authority at home. Saids central concern in if(typeof ez_ad_units!='undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[300,250],'elifnotes_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_5',160,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-elifnotes_com-large-leaderboard-2-0');Orientalism is the multiple relationships between the act of writing and cultural politics, language, and power. Firstly, "Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between 'the Orient' and (most of the time) 'the Occident.'" Said argued that his distinction emphasized the supremacy of the Occident versus the inferiority of the Orient. According to Said, the knowledge or understanding gained through the Orients scientific study leads directly to control and power over the Orient. What is the main argument of Edward Said book Orientalism? He says that with the spread of colonization, Europeans came in contact with underdeveloped and undeveloped countries of the east. is the multiple relationships between the act of writing and cultural politics, language, and power. They thought it was the duty of the colonizers to educate and civilize them. Edward Said also rejects the validity of the terms Orient and Occident. Consequently, the geographical vagueness of the Orient works to conflate a vast and diverse array of landscapes, peoples and cultures into a single, unchanging unit.