ORIENTALI§M

More than three decades after its first publication, Edward Said's groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East has become a modern classic.In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding. Essential, and still eye-opening, Orientalism remains one of the most important books written about our divided world. Orientalism is a 1978 book by Edward W. Said, in which the author discusses Orientalism, defined as the West's patronizing representations of "The East"—the societies and peoples who inhabit the places of Asia, North Africa, and the Middle East. According to Said, orientalism (the Western scholarship about the Eastern World) is inextricably tied to the imperialist societies who produced it, which makes much Orientalist work inherently political and servile to power. According to Said, in the Middle East, the social, economic, and cultural practices of the ruling Arab elites indicate they are imperial satraps who have internalized the romanticized "Arab Culture" created by French, British and, later, American Orientalists; the examples include critical analyses of the colonial literature of Joseph Conrad, which conflates a people, a time, and a place into a narrative of incident and adventure in an exotic land. The critical application of post-structuralism in the scholarship of Orientalism influenced the development of literary theory, cultural criticism, and the field of Middle Eastern studies, especially regarding how academics practice their intellectual inquiry when examining, describing, and explaining the Middle East. The scope of Said's scholarship established Orientalism as a foundation text in the field of post-colonial culture studies, which examines the denotations and connotations of Orientalism, and the history of a country's post-colonial period. As a public intellectual, Edward Said debated Orientalism with historians and scholars of area studies, notably, the historian Bernard Lewis, who described the thesis of Orientalism as "anti-Western". For subsequent editions of Orientalism, Said wrote an "Afterword" (1995) and a "Preface" (2003)addressing criticisms of the content, substance, and style of the work as cultural criticism. (Wikipedia) The Theme Is The Way In Which Intellectual Traditions Are Created And Trans-mitted... Orientalism Is The Example Mr. Said Uses, And By It He Means Something Precise. The Scholar Who Studies The Orient (and Specifically The Muslim Orient), The Imaginitive Writer Who Takes It As His Subject, And The Institutions Which Have Been Concerned With Teaching It, Settling It, Ruling It, All Have A Certain Representation Or Idea Of The Orient Defined As Being Other Than The Occident, Mysterious, Unchanging And Ultimately Inferior. --albert Houran -- From Http://www.amazon.com (jan. 28, 2014). Chap. 1: The Scope Of Orientalism: I. Knowing The Oriental -- Ii. Imaginative Geography And Its Representations: Orientalizing The Oriental -- Iii. Projects -- Iv. Crisis -- Chap. 2: Orientalist Structures And Restructures: I. Redrawn Frontiers, Redefines Issues, Secularized Religion -- Ii. Silvestre De Sacy And Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology And Philological Laboratory -- Iii. Oriental Residence And Scholarship: The Requirements Of Lexicography And Imagination -- Iv. Pilgrims And Pilgrimages, British And French -- Chap. 3: Orientalism Now: I. Latent And Manifest Orientalism -- Ii. Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalism's Worldliness -- Iii. Modern Anglo-french Orientalism In Fullest Flower -- Iv. The Latest Phase Edward W. Said. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A groundbreaking critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East that is—decades after its first publication—one of the most important books written about our divided world.'Intellectual history on a high order... and very exciting.'—The New York TimesIn this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of'orientalism'to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined'the orient'simply as'other than'the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding. Acknowledgments Preface Introduction The Scope of Orientalism Knowing the Oriental Imaginative Geography and Its Representations: Orientalizing the Oriental Projects Crisis Orientalist Structures and Restructures Redrawn Frontiers, Redefined Issues, Secularized Religion Silverstre de Sacy and Ernest Renan: Rational Anthropology and Philological Laboratory Oriental Residence and Scholarship: The Requirements of Lexicography and Imagination Pilgrims and Pilgrimages, British and French Orientalism Now Latent and Manifest Orientalism Style, Expertise, Vision: Orientalism's Worldliness Modern Anglo-French Orientalism in Fullest Flower The Latest Phase Afterword Notes Index More than three decades after its first publication, the author's critique of the West's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East has become a modern classic. In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, the author traces the origins of 'orientalism' to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined 'the orient' simply as 'other than' the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, has prevented true understanding. -- Publisher's description The author presents a critique of the Western World's historical, cultural, and political perceptions of the East and Arab people. In this study, the author traces the origins of the West's concept of "Orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East. "On June 13, 1910, Arthur James Balfour lectured the House of Commons on ""the problems with which we have to deal in Egypt.""" The noted critic and a Palestinian now teaching at Columbia University, examines the way in which the West observes the Arabs