Dr. Edward Said and “Orientalism”:
The Birth of Post-Colonial Literary
Theory
Mr. Parizo
IB – English A
What is Literary Theory?
Marxism, Feminism, PostColonialism, New Formalism,
New Historicism,
Deconstructionalism,
Freudianism… and on and on
and on.
• The systematic study of
the nature and
methods used to
analyze literature.
• Literary Theories acts
as “lenses” in which we
read, analyze, and view
the content of
literature.
Said from “Orientalism”
Said, Edward. Orientalism. New York, NY: Columbia
University Press. 1978. Dissertation
“The man who only finds
his homeland sweet is
a beginner;
he to whom every
foreign soil is as
familiar as his native
one is strong;
but he is perfect
compared to whom
who sees the entire
world as a foreign
land” (Said 259).
Who is Edward Said?
• Palestinian in birthplace
and ethnicity (while a
colony of England)
• Raised Protestant in a
dominant Muslim Society
• Attended British schools as
a child in Palestine
• Attended high school and
college in the US
“Orientalism”
• Said wrote the 1978
published
dissertation titled
“Orientalism”
• The essay ushered
in a new form of
literary criticism
called “PostColonialism”
Arguments in “Orientalism”
• A dominant society’s
view of supposed
“weaker” societies is
exploitive, purposeful,
and meant to encourage
ethnocentrism.
• The dominant society’s
view of the world is
distorted through this
form of exploitive
ethnocentrism.
Gall - Peters Projection Map (1973)
• “Because world maps have a powerful and lasting
effect on people's impressions of the shapes and sizes
of lands and seas, their arrangement, and the nature of
the coordinate system… We strongly urge book and
map publishers, the media and government agencies
to cease using rectangular world maps for general
purposes or artistic displays. Such maps promote
serious, erroneous conceptions by severely distorting
large sections of the world both in physical shape and
world relevance… by representing most distances and
direct routes incorrectly... supports a falseness of
cultural hierarchy” (Peters 145-152).
Peters, Arno (1983). Die Neue Kartographie/The New Cartography (in German and English).
Klagenfurt, Austria: Carinthia University; New York: Friendship Press.
“Orientalism’s” Second Argument
• Conclusions are
made by dominant
societies of weaker
ones without proper
research or
experience, but is
based on naive first
hand accounts –
leads to bigotry and
misunderstandings.
“Orientalism’s” Final Argument
• A dominant
society justifies its
own evils through
a process called
“Othering”
Said’s “Others”
• “Othering” is the
natural instinct to
view all those
different from the
viewer as a
danger to the
viewer’s way of
life.
Focus of “Orientalism”
• Although the essay
focused on Western
depiction of Middle
Eastern culture as its
basis of evidence, the
argument was
presented as a
universal concept of
all societies.
“Orientalism” Today
• Post-Colonialism has become the center-point
of literary studies in colleges and universities
around the world.
• The study has also ushered in new
terminology in the field:
– Mimicry
– Othering
– Hybridization
Mimicry
• When a controlled culture copies the ideals and beliefs
of an over-dominating culture and denies their own.
Hybridity
• When one culture
becomes a blend of its
own ideals and the
ideals of the
dominating culture.
“Othering”: Creating An Enemy
• Said argues that all
dominating cultures
must create an enemy
to “ok” the evils or
flaws of that culture –
the ‘othering’ process
is necessary for the
culture to continue its
self-viewed level of
dominance.
Othering in Action: Oklahoma City
Bombing
• On April 19th, 1995, a
bomb blew up in
Oklahoma City, killing
168 people and
injuring 680.
First Floor Preschool/Daycare
• A portion of the
building collapsed
onto a first floor
daycare center, killing
all 19 children – the
oldest child being
four years old.
American Reaction: A New Enemy
• Similar to Sept. 11th, 2001, Americans rallied against this
new, and very real, threat to our way of life.
Timothy McVeigh
• Days later, Timothy
McVeigh, a white
supremacist, Nazi
sympathizer, and
anti-government
radical was
arrested for the
bombing. The
nation was shocked
to learn that he
was an American
citizen.
Orientalism & Othering…
• Before Timothy
McVeigh was caught,
early press reports
depict Said’s
concepts of
“Orientalism” and
“Othering”.
Film:
• Watch the short film on “Orientalism”
– Group yourselves back into your Propaganda
Project groups
– Discuss the concepts of “Orientalism” and
“Othering” in terms of strengths and weaknesses.
Identify examples of mimicry, hybridization, and
othering in texts, and the today’s world.
– Be prepared to discuss, with examples from all
texts, your group’s opinions – whether you are in
agreement or not.