Chapter One: Orienting & Reorienting Orientalism
In this chapter, Edward Said explains the concept of Orientalism, which is a worldview of the Orient that relies upon a set of prejudiced interpretations grounded in the West. He expresses how the idea of Orientalism has been perpetuated through European texts, painting a picture of the Orient as exotic, inferior, and backwards, and this idea has been continually accepted as truth without disillusion. Said further goes on to explain that nations of the Orient have been painted in an alien light, with no recognition of the humanity of the individuals living within those nations.
To illustrate this, Said uses the example of the 18th century play ‘Almansor’ by Voltaire in which the central character is a Moor from Morocco. Even though comparatively little was known about the Moorish people at the time, this play still perpetuates a strict, false binary between‘us’ and ‘them’. Said closes this chapter by suggesting that Western scholarship about the Orient was never really meant to be an objective, but rather a continual force that ‘others’ the Orient and its people.
Chapter Two: The Scope of Orientalism
In this chapter, Said further explains the scope of Orientalism, and how it can be found in almost all levels of Western culture. He explains that Orientalism is found in political ideology, literary representation, and even painting. Said emphasizes how Orientalism exists as a form of subjugation, in which the West actively seeks to impose its own standards and norms onto the Orient.
To illustrate this, Said cites the example of French colonization in North Africa and the Middle East in the 19th century. This colonization was enabled by an Oriental discourse based on a West-centered worldview, and the French actively sought to impose their language and culture onto the people of North Africa and the Middle East. This is an example of a process of Orientalization that seeks to erase the local culture of the Orient in favor of that of the West.
Chapter Three: Relationship between Orientalism & Imperialism
In this chapter, Said explains the deep, inseparable relationship between Orientalism and imperialism. He argues that Orientalism is an ideology that actively seeks to perpetuate imperialism by converting imperial ambition into an ideology accepted by the West as ‘normal’ and even ‘desirable’.
To illustrate this, Said refers to the British colonization of India in the 19th century. The British actively sought to impose their own culture and ideology on the Indian people, creating an Oriental discourse that portrayed Indians as primitive and inferior. This discourse was then used to justify British colonialism, and by perpetuating it, the British were able to control the Indian people and resources for their own gain.
Chapter Four: Orientalist Scholarship & Knowledge
In this chapter, Said examines the role of scholarship in perpetuating the Orientalist worldview. He explains that most Western scholarship on the Orient is heavily biased and assumes an Orientalist perspective as a ‘given’ truth. Scholars actively seek to distance themselves from the subject of Orientalism, yet their bias can still be found in their writing.
To illustrate this, Said cites the example of travel writing in the 19th century. Travel writers such as Mark Twain relied heavily upon stereotypical Orientalist perspectives to portray the Orient as primitive and backwards. As Said states, these travel writers do not even attempt to understand the full reality of the Orient, instead relying upon biased portrayals that only serve to promote imperial ambition and Orientalization.
