Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town by Paul Theroux. Specifically it will discuss whether the book is an Orientalist text. This memoir discusses the author's travels through Africa from the Nile southward to Cape Town. Orientalism refers to studies and art that depict the East, and the ability of westerners to truly understand the cultures of others, and Theroux runs into that behavior during his trip.

Author Theroux writes of his journey across the length of Africa, a demanding trip that would take him a year to complete. Throughout his travels, he talks about his experiences, many harrowing, that occur along the way. In the second chapter, he notes why people believe this book was an Orientalist text. Earlier in history, when the East was not so well-known, some regarded the Middle East and even North Africa as related to Asia. He writes, "Egypt was regarded as...
[ View Full Essay]