Edward Said's Orientalism Edward Said's Essay

This was done by various means and especially by constructing a poor mythical picture of the Orient and then forcing all Oriental societies to fit that image. The same treatment was meted out to Japanese societies and other societies of the East. India was the land of snake-charmers and spices for as long as we can remember until India burst out with a brand-new identity by becoming a leader in science and technology. However to this day, many people would connect India with its Oriental image and those who visit the land usually do so because of the mythical picture they have constructed in their minds. India is no such place and it never was. But presenting it as an exotic and mythical land west had no desire to accentuate the beauty or charm of the land but instead it simply wanted to develop an unmistakable contrast between East and West so the latter would always be able to maintain its dominance by presenting itself as the more enlightened and educated of the two societies. The same treatment was then accorded to the Arab societies. And with Muslims, westerners did even more than simply construct a mythical image. They also gave a negative tone. Said thus says, "What I do argue also is that there is a difference between knowledge of other peoples and other times that is the result of understanding, compassion, careful study and analysis for their own sakes, and on the other hand knowledge -- if that is what it is -- that is part of an overall campaign of self-affirmation, belligerency and outright war." ("Orientalism Once More," 2003)

In many western novels and books, travelers from the west explained what they saw in Oriental societies and readers assumed that this was probably the real Oriental society without ever questioning the authenticity of the account in the eyes of the people being depicted.Did the writer actually ask the people if they were how he had assumed them to be? Did he try to run his analysis of what he observed with by those who were discussed to see what the truth really was? Said raises serious objection to such irresponsible depiction of Oriental societies: "There is very little consent to be found, for example, in the fact that Flaubert's encounter with an Egyptian courtesan produced a widely influential model of the Oriental woman; she never spoke of herself, she never represented her emotions, presence, or history. He spoke for and represented her. He was foreign, comparatively wealthy, male, and these were historical facts of domination that allowed him not only to possess Kuchuk Hanem physically but to speak for her and tell his readers in what way she was "typically Oriental." (Orientalism, p. 6)

Edward Said thus tried to shatter the mythical construction of the Orient and the Oriental by explaining how western discourse had intentionally worked to maintain its dominance and superiority through fabricated accounts of the Oriental world.

References

Edward Said. Orientalism. Vintage Books. 1979

Edward Said, Orientalism Once More (2003). [Lecture delivered on the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Social Studies,….....