Orientalism
Edward W. Said
Knowledge Structures
17:610:580
Professor Marija Dalbello
Orientalism was written to show European-American power over the
orient and the mystification of “the Other”.
• Argument put forth by Said is contained in the
•
•
•
analytical method he puts forth for the reader.
Namely, the classic Oriental view is the result of
an academic bias necessitated by Western
Colonial and Post-Colonial politics
The Oriental is portrayed as a static “Other” –
creating a culture that is an object lacking
humanism.
The Western goal was to justify colonial politics,
economics and hegemony over the centuries.
Knowledge that is “true” is not political; rather it is
based on one’s experience – knowledge is
something that must be gained.
• Said’s work asserts its credibility as he writes as
•
•
•
•
one who is experienced in the study of both the
Occident and the Orient
Said is a Palestinian Exile
Said writes as a Professor of English and
Comparative Literature at Columbia University
He is a Western Oriental
His grasp of History is broad and impressive in
its scope as it relates to his analysis
Orientalism is designed to challenge the bias imbedded in the
Western consciousness
• The Orient was, for centuries, based upon an
•
•
•
intellectual construct that reinforced conditions
of inequality
Said successfully argues the nature of cross
cultural discourse needs to be reexamined
The Orient that Said places in front of the reader
is of “cultures, traditions, and societies”
polarized by a Western power agenda
Cultural growth is denied the Orient with
progress claimed and administered by the
Occident
Journals
• Between the years 1979 through 1981 hundreds of
articles have been written about Orientalism.
• In 2000, Eddie Yeghiayan, the Special Collections
Librarian of University of California Irvine, compiled a list
of reviews on Orientalism.
–
–
–
–
–
32% of the essays were From Political Science and Historical Journals.
32% were from Academic Journals.
25% from Newspaper articles.
10% from Literary Journals.
1% from other sources.
• Orientalism was such a controversial essay that it was
able to impact many different thought genres after the
first couple years of its publication.
Orientalism Said’s knowledge of Orient Scholars is very deep and
broad in its scope
• Prominent scholars, from Renan, Lane to Marx, saw the
•
•
•
Orient as a locale requiring Western attention,
reconstruction even redemption
Early 20th Century view in Imperial Britain was of a place
that was “the rather necessary furniture of Empire”
Later part of 20th century Kissinger as man of power
portrays Orient in classic sense whereas Philosopher
Foucault’s theories are applied to show how basic ideas
of humanity in the Orient are changed by the history
they seek to represent
Knowledge of the Orient and other cultures can not
come from political or even vicarious experience – It
must rise from actual experience of the humanity studied
Lord Curzon
Orientalism and Knowledge
Structures and the Information
Professions
• Orientalism was written to show the
impact of mystifying “the other”.
• As an MLIS candidate, it is important to
realize that mystification still takes place
today, in the form of one’s own biases.
• Information Professionals deal with users
that create bias, as well as repeat
historical biases.