Said’s idea on Orientalism

Said’s idea on Orientalism:

Before discussing Orientalism, it is necessary to know about Edward Said. So let’s have a look on Edward said in detail.

About Author:

Edward Said is one of the most shining stars of the postcolonial literature. He was a Palestinian American literary theorist and public intellectual who had found the difficult theory and field of post colonialism. Edward said is known mainly for his contribution to postcolonial studies on the topic of Orientalism-this being a consideration of the many different stereotypes that are present in the representation and understanding of the many Asian communities.

Edward Said has multiple critics. Porter concedes that Edward Said’s text has value, in so far as it examines the relationship between manifest Orientalism and its latent, originating ideas about the orient, rather than trying to consolidate the based perception of Orientalism with historical and biological facts. However he notes that it contains a fundamental contradiction in its basic structure.

Now let’s elaborate what is Orientalism in detail.

What is Orientalism?

“Orientalism is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes exaggerates and distorts differences of Arab people and culture as compared to that of Europe and the U.S.It often involves seeing Arab culture as exotic,backward,uncivilized and at times dangerous”

According to Edward Said:

“Orientalism is the acceptance in the west of the basic distinction between east and west as the starting point for elaborate theories, epics, novels, social descriptions, and political accounts concerning the orient, its people, customs, mind and so on”

According to Edward Said, Orientalism dates from the period of European enlightenment and Colonization of the Arab World. Example of early Orientalism can be seen in European paintings and photographs in the U.S in the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

Edward Said starts by asserting the fact that orient played an instrumental role in the construction of the European culture as the powerful of other. The orient has helped to define Europe as its contrasting image, idea, personality experience. 

He then states that this Orientalism can be understood in combined representation of the orient in the western culture, science, politics etc. and transcending the borders of all this field of knowledge and it becomes a style of thought based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between The Orient and the Occident.

Moreover, it transforms in to a powerful political instrument of domination.

“Orientalism as a western style for dominating, restructuring and having authority over other nation”

As Edward Said is a Marxist, there is no wonder that it is third incarnation of the Orientalism and domination. In the Foucautian tradition, Edward Said suggests to look at Orientalism as a discourse.

Even today oriental countries have the same perspectives that they had earlier. They even today see any oriental country as a developing country. They believe that they are ahead in the world and we are underdeveloped people.

So, here Edward Said puts forward his ideas about Orientalism and later on he asks several questions as given below

Ø How do we look at east?

Ø How do the European countries look at east?

Ø How do they look at west?

So, these questions can be studied in a broader way. Edward Said then states that the western image of the orient and Orientalism had little to do with the real orient.

Orientalism is not simply the work of European imagination but it is all about power, domination, hegemony and authority. Orientalism is not a mere political subject matter or field that is reflected passively by culture.

Further Edward Said tells that we always look at our country as we are lacking those powers and reputation that the western countries possess. Edward Said starts by analyzing that public speeches and writing of two British imperialist of the 20^th century about the Egypt, making an emphasis on how the stress that since the British imperial authorities know better their country and they have a natural right to rule it.

Furthermore, Edward Said conveys his ideas and tells that we always want for reputation and power and it may be the possible reason for the thing that we are more and more by the western world and the impression is shrinking and our perspectives towards our country has started shrinking in our mind.

Furthermore Edward Said discusses the colonial effort of European powers in the second half of the 19^th century as it drew on symbolic resources provided by the Orientalism to claim the national support for the British and French imperial presence underdeveloped lands. Regarding how the orient was supposed to be divided between the European powers.

Moreover, Edward Said explains that how the science of Orientalism developed and how the Orientals started considering the Orientals as non-human beings. The oriental divided the world in two parts by using the concert of ours and theirs. An imaginary geographical line was drawn between what was ours and what was theirs.

The orients were regarded as uncivilized people and the westerns said that since they were the refined race and it was their duty to civilize these people and in order to achieve their goal, they had to colonize and rule the orientals.they said that the orients themselves were incapable of running their own government.

The most important use of Orientalism to the Europeans was that they defined themselves by defining the Orientals for example qualities such as lazy, irrational, uncivilized, crudeness were related to Orientals and automatically the Europeans became active, Rational, civilized and sophisticated.

Thus in order to achieve this goal, it was necessary for the Orientals to generalize the culture of the orientals.Another feature of Orientalism was that the culture of the orient also was explained to the European audience by linking them to western culture. For example Islam was made into mohammadism.the because Mohammad was the founder of this religion.

Since religion of Christ was called Christianity thus Islam should be called mohammadism.the point to be noted here is that no Muslim was aware of this terminology and this was a completely term to which the Muslims had no say at all.

In India, the Britishers were able to rule because of India need to be like them.we, somewhere show them that they can rule but this attitude changed our entire identity and up to some extent they succeeded in molding our identity the way they wanted. The Britishers shown what they wanted but we were spellbound by their identity and hidden intentions. So by establishing the east India Company, they got the half victory and the remaining half was achieved by them by expanding their British business.

To wind up:

At the end of this topic it can be said that here Edward Said says about Orientalism  because he wanted to show the European-American power to the orient and the perspective of western towards the east which has been well elaborated by Edward Said, who concludes this chapter by saying that European should include the perspective of Orient too.