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Summary: Orientalism
Review: ...Edward Said writes an important piece, revealing several important aspects of western thought. He proves that, even today, racism plays a dominant role in Westerner's perceptions and treatment of others. Said utilizes numerous literary, scholarly, and policy works to deconstruct Orientalism. These pieces aid comprehension and help to illustrate his complex issues. In addition, he exposes a logical and thought provoking argument that appeals to students and scholars in modern Middle Eastern Studies and a variety of other disciplines.
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Summary: A Classic
Review: "Orientalism" is considered to be Said's seminal work. It is a difficult read - especially if you don't know French or German - but a central (valid) point comes across quite clearly: Europe and North America's exotic romaticism of Southwest Asian and North African cultures underpins a view of these cultures as morally inferior and subsequently not worthy of the same rights to life, property and self-determination. Given the implications to policy towards the region, there has been much controversy over the book, both within academics and in the larger political sphere.
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Summary: Deconstruction with a purpose
Review: Said's primary task consisted in locating a discourse on orientalism which is no mean feat. Having arrived at that underlying ideology, he proceeded to deconstruct, an even harder task especially for the marginalised Orient. The book screams Foucault adopting the same modal in demonstrating the relations of power that institutionalise knowledge and reproduce truths with the deliberate aim of controlling the "other". This work, moreover, is a poignant reminder that deconstruction is not an intellectual luxury, provided it does not divorce its aim from political effectiveness. Said revealed himself as the mouthpiece of the Orient at a time when globalisation threatens to sweep everything in its way. I am a keen believer in the need to reconcile humanism and postmodernism, a paradox, that Said deflty overcomes.
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Summary: An exhaustive review of European literature about the East
Review: Whatever one may chose to believe about Said's methodology, one cannot question his vast erudition concerning Western literature about the Middle East. Said presents a rigorous and thoroughgoing exegesis of Western texts about the "Orient" and covers virtually the entire gamut in European letters, from Nietzsche to Karl Marx, from British colonialsim to American social science. His penetrating criticism of this material constitutes a significant contribution to the canon of literature.One may argue against the merit of Said's more radical interpretation of these texts, namely, that the concept of the "Orient" is a sweeping generalization that lacks "ontological stability," and must be understood as a discourse of power in Western literature. This is a fascinating and intellectually pregnant thesis, although many may find it recondite and polemical.
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Summary: Orientalism--one of the top 10 works of the 20th century
Review: This isn't a perfect book by any means. Foremost among its flaws is that it fails to incorporate German Orientalism. This negelect, admitted by Said, brings into question the whole project and argument in the estimation of some. Nevertheless, Said's arguments on the relationship between knowledge and power, colonialism and the construction and formation of the counter-factual, foreign other remain intact despite the distortions and exaggerations within this book. In other words, if one so desired, one could entirely rewrite Said's book from the ground up without its flaws and with a more comprehensive scope and arrive at basically many of the same conclusions.
One can decide to judge the value of the book by its influence and the subsequent emergence of post-colonial studies following its publication, or one can decided to view it as a work on the merits of its contents. From the former perspective, this is a work of indisputable importance. From the latter perspective, this is a work that though engrossing leaves much to be desired becuase it fails on various fronts. Despite those failures, much of Said's argument remains intact. Anyone who does read this book and study his arguments cannot help but to be effected by the arguments presented. After Said, the study of other cutlures can never be viewed in the same light.
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Summary: Great!
Review: A brilliant treatment of an important subject. Said discusses the representation of the Orient (the Near East) in Western scholarship and its relationship to colonialism.
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Summary: Orientalism is an inaugural book for postcolonial studies
Review: Although from the perspective of postcolonial and cultural studies in the late nineties Said's Orientalism may seem basic or unselfconscious, one must remember the importance of this book to a wide range of fields. Through his identification of the construction of the racist and imperialist discourses of academic Orientalism, Said forces those interested in literary and cultural studies to reflect upon their own status as intellectuals and their own complicity with Orientalism and, by extension, other exploitative modes of power. Said's book at least partially inaugurates contemporary debates about the literary canon, as well as really paving the road for a variety of approaches to postcolonial studies, including, most importantly, the work of Homi Bhabha.
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Summary: Superb Polemic
Review: At first sight, arcane knowledge of the classical "Orient" and seemingly objective inquiry into cultures other than "ours" may not bear any great impact on politics or other more decisive facets of life. Said demonstrates, however, that knowledge does affect political power in extremely significant ways. He thoroughly documents how apparently "objective" scholars from Europe and later America formulated and taught academic dogmas about the "inferior East." These academic doctrines, in turn, acquired an aura of authority on the basis of their seemingly immense knowledge, and thus acquired the power to (mis)represent "the Orient" to the Occidental audience. Through various reductionist stereotypes, such Orientalist dogmas climbed their way into state-sponsored academic chairs and experts who, up to his very day, have the power to guide and direct national policies. Said's Orientalism is a forceful and cogent political argument against binary oppositions and harmful divisions which unfortunately still pervade much of "our" scholarship and politics.
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Summary: The other side of anti-Semitism
Review: The phenomenon Edward Said describes in his book is the anti-Arab and anti-Muslim traditions in society and literature. "Orientalism" is a term that describes a "discourse", a school of thought. And like anti-Semtism, which was one part of Orientalist prejudice in the 19th century, the discourse of anti-Muslim anti-Arab prejudice has a long and powerful history. Regrettably it infects leading scholars of the Middle East like Bernard Lewis. Said deserves credit for putting it all together. Although he is a harsh critic of Western imperialism and Israeli and American power in the Middle East, he hardly manifests racism towards any group.
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Summary: An account of how 'the West' perceives 'others'
Review: Although some may find this book distasteful to their appetites because it might infringe upon their personal perceptions of themselves or their society, debasing the book to a work that they perceive as an attack upon their 'race', "Orientalism" actually attempts to address an issue concerning Western academic perceptions regarding non-Western people: Mainly that these perceptions are tainted. The very fact that some individuals perceive that the book is a personal attack upon a certain race validates the book itself. Said attempts therein to explain how certain perceptions about certain people persist in academia, permeating and sustaining prejudices within the non-academic world as well, because the Orientalist school appeals to the base of human emotions of jingoism and self-justification of 'superiority'. Debasing this explanantion by perceiving it as an attack upon any other 'race' reeks of the attitude that Said is trying to explain. No 'race' is at blaim, only the causal relationship between the perceptions that empire created and the people they attempted to govern. Interpretations that attempt to label Said's work as an attack upon a certain 'race' only show the true colors of those that make such arguments
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