Edward Saids Work on Orientalism - Book Report/Review Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Edward Said’s work on Orientalism- relationship between knowledge, power and modes of representation in to contemporary relations of development Course: Date: Introduction In his work on Orientalism, Edward Said contended that western view of Middle Eastern as well as Asian societies is preconceived archetypes that do not bring out the reality. He examined that such perceptions largely romanticized representations that depict differences between eastern societies and western societies. Orientalism examines the origin of Western portrayal of the Orient since eighteenth century to date. It can be noted that Said in his capacious intellectual focused more on providing various perspectives to represent the discourses of Orientalism, especially in disparate areas such as literature, anthropology as well as the historical trajectory of imperial administration (Said1978). Said’s work on Orientalism particularly on the relationship between knowledge, power and the modes of representation are relevant insights for the contemporary relations of development. Orient as a phenomenon constructed through generations A part from the deep insights into perception between the West and Orient in addition to the major issues raised as concerns to representation, knowledge and power, it is arguable that Orientalism can be divided into various key points and claims that Said intended to convey. For instance, the Orient exists as a phenomenon developed by generations of artists, politicians, intellectuals and commentators constructed by incorporating a number of Orientalism assumptions and stereotypes. This implies that Said’s main objective was to demonstrate how this European invention since antiquity to contemporary relations of development, has served to enhance not only knowledge but also to bring out the reality they seem to describe. Additionally, Said intended to show how over time the knowledge and reality can create a convention (Sarder 1999). The discourse of Orientalism can also be related to the prevailing legacy within the world today. According to Ashcroft, Griffiths and Tiffin (2000) argued that Orientalism discourses have continued in the present, for instance, in the relationship between the West and Islam as reflected in its studies, media reporting and representation in general. The argument is that Said examined the nature of Orientalist work to have resulted in the current misguided and inaccurate representations of Islamic and Arabic cultures. In regard to the work of Edward Said, it is relevant to argue that the current political representation of Muslim women is more linked to the texts and ideological situations that characterize the co-relation between the West and existing Islamic societies. Such relations were historically marked through changes between the balance of power and the two societies where the shifts have resulted in corresponding changes in the archetypal paradigm that depict Muslim woman as a fictional invention and later developed into an object of western feminist gaze (Haideh1999). The perception of Western on the East is not built on reality, but from some preconceived models that examine the entire Eastern societies as closely related to each other, while fundamentally different from the Western societies (Parameswaran 2001). Orientalism as an academic commonsense Orientalism work is challenging to the various disciplines, especially studies in Middle Eastern. For a number of outstanding scholars and students, it is arguable that Orientalism has become a pertinent and insightful theory which increasingly defines the dangers inherent in current scholarship. It is important to note that various criticisms and rigorous scholarly advancements have made the theory more relevant, eliminating the, unrealities, ambiguities and polemic to contemporary working thesis (Ahiska 2003). Today, Orientalism has to incorporate the intrinsic differences, personalities and nuances that continue to give scholars identity within the field of Oriental academics as well as the character of prospective silent Orient. Although the theory constitutes institutional techniques and a common language, the two represent a style that is definable through form and not content in addition to being examined as a means and not the ends. Therefore, a shift from criticizing the whole practice of Orientalism to the recognition of bad practices creates an opportunity to enhance the individual and exceptional point for contemporary scholars to reconcile the Orient theory in regard to the complexity of regal relations. However, a number of outlets and universities in the contemporary Western media have made fundamental changes such as reformed systems of academic disciplines, increased self-awareness among the scholars as well as large involvement of Arabs within the West that render Orientalism unacceptable. The protests depict the power of social media in modern technology so as promote the aims, beliefs and motivation of an individual who challenges the work of Orientalism by indicating the complexity of events involved (Rosalind 2002). In the Middle East, it can be argued that Said work on Orientalism has fundamentally reformed the academic world. It is only with the exception of a willful ignorance that contemporary scholars can consider the political implications of the scholarly literature. Therefore, Orientalism has to a larger extent inspired the scholars to cautiously excavate areas of study that have been neglected for long. It is without controversy that Orientalism work has turned out to be foundational academic material for Postcolonial studies. From the orient work, important lessons can be learnt by contemporary leaders on how to become vigilant against the stereotypes and essentialism. For example, leaders are encouraged to interrogate the roots and reasons that underlie the various explanations and representations, scholars learn how to fully comprehend as well as contextualize their objects of study. This helps to continually favor the complexity and contingency against the essences and stereotypes. Through its contemporary forms, therefore, Orientalism can be viewed as an academic commonsense (Foucault 2000). Cultural and historical knowledge of Orientalism Based on the work of Foucault, Said examined the idea of Foucault on the cultural and historical knowledge as the integration of a system of discourse in order to trace the complex interrelation that exists between power and knowledge. For instance, the border of the East reflects the definition given to Western colonial center, whereas the Oriental symbolizes the Western perception which constructs it. Such terms play an important rule within the development of contemporary post-colonial studies. This helps to relate the literary studies to the world activities happening today, especially the interrelation between culture and brute reality of the imperialism (Foucault 2000). Orientalism can be considered as a style of thought where ontological as well as epistemological distinction can be made based on the idea of the Orient and Occident. As a result, various authors such as novelists, writers, political theorists and the imperial administrators have considered the fundamental difference between East and West as their basis for detailed accounts of the Orient people, their customs and mind. In regard to the cultural discourse, therefore, it is important for the scholars to learn that whatever commonly circulated through culture is not always true, but representations or the social constructions. Today, it is relevant to argue that language is increasingly becoming organized and encoded system that integrates many devices so as to express, designate as well as exchange messages and information (Rosalind 2002). The difference between pure and political knowledge Orientalism creates a contemporary reality about knowledge. True knowledge is non-political and on the other hand, political knowledge is not a true knowledge. This makes it difficult to understand if no organized political circumstances occurring when knowledge is generated. Today, it is obvious for one to understand when are real political is considered as a basis to discredit works that dare to violate the practice of imaginary supra-political objectivity. It is worthy to point out that contemporary civil societies largely recognize the gradation of political value within the varied fields of knowledge. The political value based on a field, occurs as a result of the possibility associated with its direct translation into the economic ideologies. Arguable, political importance is developed from the familiarity of a field to discoverable sources power within the political society. Today’s humanistic investigation ought to formulate the nature through which knowledge is related to politics in a given context of study as well as its historical facts (Foucault 2000). Based on this study, it is quite clear that Orientalism is not simply a political subject matter that is portrayed passively through culture, scholarship or institutions of learning. It is not a mere representation and expression of the nefarious Western colonialist plot restraining the Oriental world. Instead, Orientalism should be considered as a distribution of the geographical awareness to understand aesthetic, scholarly, historical, sociological and economic texts. Thus, it can be an elaboration of not only the geographical distinction about the orient and Occident, but also involves a range of interests which through means as philological reconstruction, sociological description and scholarly discovery maintains a certain will to reflect, control, manipulate and incorporate a manifestly different world. Orientalism is, therefore, a discourse that maintains indirect correspondence relationship with the raw political power, and thus developed through uneven exchange with different kinds of power that are reformed by shifting to power political, power intellectuals, power cultural and power moral. Conclusion In regard to the above discussions, it can concluded that the main objective of Edward Said in Orientalism work was to demonstrate how European invention since antiquity to contemporary relations of development, has served to enhance not only knowledge, but also to elicit the reality they seem to describe. The current political representation of Muslim women is related to the texts and ideological situations that characterize the co-relation between the West and existing Islamic societies. Based on its contemporary forms, Orientalism can be viewed as an academic commonsense. A number of authors such as novelists, writers, political theorists and the imperial administrators have accepted the fundamental difference between East and West as their basis for detailed accounts of the Orient people, their customs and mind. Bibliography Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffin, (2000), Post-Colonial Studies: The Key Concepts, London and New York, Routledge. Ahiska, M., (2003), Occidentalism. The Historical Fantasy of the Modern. The South Atlantic Quarterly 102 (2), 351–380. Foucault, M., (2000), The Archaeology of Knowledge, London, Routledge. Haideh, M., (1999), Feminism and Islamic Fundamentalism: The Limits of Post-Modern Analysis, London, Zed Books. Parameswaran, R.E. (2001), Resuscitating Feminist Audience Studies. Colonialism, Occidentalism, and the Control of Women, Washington DC, AEJMC Convention. Rosalind, O., (2002), After Orientalism: Culture, Criticism, and Politics in the Third World, Cambridge, Clare College. Said, E., (1978), Orientalism. New York et al: Penguin Books. Sarder, Z., (1999), Orientalism. Buckingham, Open University Press. Read More