Orientalism Topics

• oxford english dictionary
• zachary lockman
• cambridge university press
• oriental institute of chicago
• antonio gramsci
• western scholarship
• london routledge
• michel foucault
• distinct cultures
• university press cambridge
• mirror image
• cambridge university
• oriental studies
• school of oriental and african studies
• globalism
• pervasiveness
• london school
• disrepute
• lord byron

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Orientalism, Orientalism

The use in English of "Orientalism" as a synonym for academic "Oriental studies" is rare; the Oxford English Dictionary cites only one such usage, by Lord Byron in 1812.

The comparisons between them generally were unfavorable to the Orient; however, respected institutions like the Oriental Institute of Chicago, the London School of Oriental and African Studies or Universit degli studi di Napoli L'Orientale, also carried the term. The word "Orient" fell into disrepute after the word "Orientalism" was coined with the publication of Said's book. Following the ideas of Michel Foucault, Said emphasized the relationship between power and knowledge in scholarly and popular thinking, in particular regarding European views of the Islamic Arab world. Said argued that Orient and Occident worked as oppositional terms, so that the "Orient" was constructed as a negative inversion of Western culture. The work of another thinker, Antonio Gramsci, was also important in shaping Edward Said's analysis in this area. In particular, Said can be seen to have been influenced by Gramsci's notion of hegemony in understanding the pervasiveness of Orientalist constructs and representations in Western scholarship and reporting, and their relation to the exercise of power over the 'Orient'. Zachary Lockman, 'Contending Visions of the Middle East: the History and Politics of Orientalism' (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2004), p. 205.

He is therefore critical of Saids attempt to try to place them all under the framework of the orientalist tradition. Turner, B.S., 1994, Orientalism, Postmodernism and Globalism , London, Routledge Other critics of Said have argued that while many distortions and fantasies certainly existed, the notion of "the Orient" as a negative mirror image of the West cannot be wholly true because attitudes to distinct cultures diverged significantly.

Source: Wikipedia > Orientalism