Case Study 2 Orientalism The Book and the

Case Study 2: Orientalism The Book and the Concept by Edward W. Said

Edward W. Said (1935 - 2003) Palestinian-American scholar; Mixed cultural experience: “a Palestinian going to school in Egypt, with an English first name, an American passport, and no certain identity. ” Ph. D. from Harvard; taught at Columbia University. One of the creators of postcolonial theory and postcolonialism as a field of studies.

A Constructed Notion “[N]either the term Orient nor the concept of the West has any ontological stability; each is made up of human effort, partly affirmation, partly identification of the Other. ” (Edward Said) Ex. : “Far East” as a term applied to East Asia is a Medieval European geopolitical construction.

Orientalism (1978) by Edward Said “Orientalism, a way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient’s special place in European Western experience. ” The Orient, according to Said: Based on preconceived notions. The place of Europe’s colonies; The source of its civilizations and languages; Its cultural contestant; Recurring image of the Other; Helped to define the “West” by contrast.

Orientalism in Edward Said’s Words “Orientalism is a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‘the Orient and […] ‘the Occident’. ” “Orientalism [is] a Western style for dominating, restructuring, and having control over the Orient. ”

Orientalism “European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self. ” “The Orient is an integral part of European material civilization and culture. ” A large number of “Orientalist” texts were produced in the “West, ” constructing the “Orient” as “Westerners” saw it. “Domestication of the exotic” in Western cultures.