Orientalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Orientalism - Essay Example The concept of orientalism is known to have initiated the commencement if the different modern throughts such as the post colonial theory. Upon the publication of the book, it had been recognized as one of the most controversial work in the last three decades. It had been considered as an important reference even in the academic institutions that it was translated to 26 different languages. There are two main concepts that are included in the theory of orientalism. These are prejudice and racism towards the people in the middle east such as the Arabic population. Orientalism is synonymous to stereotyping of the western region inclusive of the United States and Europe towards the Middle Eastern population. According to the thesis of Said, orientalism is a highly motivated notion resulting from a preconceived objective (Said â€Å"Orientalism Part One†). There are different points discussed in the interview of Edward Said. These include the repertory of orientalism, the relationship between orientalism and imperialism, American orientalism, the present day orientalist view, effects of orientalism and the relationship with the Palistine question which is another issue explored by the author. In the repertory of orientalism, the main point of discussion is the components of orientalist perspective. Said described the unrealistic representation of the east that is even advocated by the specialists of different fields. The said view even established a representation of the Arabic people outside history such as the mystecism as if the people in the Middle East did not developed through the centuries (Said â€Å"Orientalism Part One†). Another point is the connection between the development of the orientalist thought and the age of imperialist conquest of the western region specifically Britain and France. During the era of the empires in Europe military and ideological conquests were undertaken. An example given is the Napoleon occupation in Egypt where