ORIENTALISM: WESTERN CONCEPTIONS OF THE ORIENT

Recently I found myself getting interested in philosophy, specifically political philosophy. My sources of information are scattered, consisting largely of books and articles written by Western experts. I am often impressed by the confident authority exercised by the European and American academics while discussing the cultural and political scenario of the previously colonized nations.

Sir Edward Said's Orientalism served as my introduction into the literature of postcolonial thought.

 Edward Said, who died aged 67, was one of the leading literary critics of the last quarter of the 20th century. As professor of English and comparative literature at Columbia University, New York, he was widely regarded as the outstanding representative of the post-structuralist left in America. Above all, he was the most articulate and visible advocate of the Palestinian cause in the United States, where it earned him many enemies.

This book is an analysis into the concretely established system of thought which has served as the authority behind any knowledge of the Orient. It has highlighted the development of an ideology, with contribution of the colonial powers, that has created a gulf between the east and the west. 

The "Orient" is a geographical re-imagination of the east by the west. The Middle East, India, China, civilizations that have remained as subjects under the great colonial powers, have been posited as the antithesis of modernity and development. 

The book argues that "Orientalism" that has stayed active as a scholarly vocation is an ideological creation of the west that has been backed by the western governments and institutions. 

Orientalism imagines the orient and then studies it. Orientalism takes for granted that the orient is incapable of self-government and representation of itself. Contributions of academics and travelers have led to the painting of an exotic picture of the Eastern civilizations.

The book is divided into three parts: -

1. The Scope of orientalism- This part of the book defines the orient and the scope of orientalism in geographical, political and academic contexts. 

2. Orientalist Structures and restructures- The second part of the book talks about the effects of French and British colonialism in the development of orientalism. Various political developments in the east led to different reimaginations and definitions of the east that catered to the nations in power. Said delves into the literature of French and British orientalists, analyses them and brings forth differences between them in accordance with their nation's interest in the Orient.

3. Orientalism now- The last part of the book is a description of the contemporary situation of Orientalism where it is intermingled with policy and political aspirations of the West. The emergence of America as the modern imperial presence in the Middle East and its newer forms of orientalism, especially the representations of the Arab and Islam.

Foucault says that power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge, scientific understanding and ‘truth’: ‘Truth is a thing of this world: it is produced only by virtue of multiple forms of constraint.  And it induces regular effects of power. Each society has its regime of truth, its “general politics” of truth: that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes function as true; the mechanisms and instances which enable one to distinguish true and false statements, the means by which each is sanctioned; the techniques and procedures accorded value in the acquisition of truth; the status of those who are charged with saying what counts as true’ (Foucault, in Rabinow 1991).

 The hold that the west has exercised over the sources of knowledge of the orient have led to a great misconstruction of the image of the civilizations of the East. This has created a hostility towards the movements of the Eastern nations, and this has been used as a tool for continuous exertion of authority by the West. 

For the understanding of the questions of the Middle East, Indian democracy, the Eastern philosophies, Palestinian Nationhood and the images of the Oriental religions, a process of decolonization needs to be affected in the academic and scholarly fields. A criticism of the Orientalism, especially its racist, xenophobic and the white-man-centered roots is necessary and expected. 

Orientalism by Edward Said has profoundly raised this question and is an important text towards decolonization of knowledge systems.