5/11 Said on Orientalism


Edward Said on Orientalism revolutionized middle eastern theories by answering questions, “Why do we have preconceived notions of people in the Middle East even though we have never been there?” and “How can we understand other people who we look different from our skin color?”. His solution was the idea of orientalism in which people view western and “eastern” way of life differently. When he initially started his research, he found that western view points of the Middle East were different because of the negative images illustrated in the media. For example, there were scenes of evil, fright, and threat as there were always masses of people ready to fight. Then, he also concluded historians and other academic disciplinarians who apparently were experts on the Middle East, portrayed them a certain way as well. These viewpoints shaped western ideas and thus affected politics. In relation to contemporary times, orientalism has not changed. I think the ideologies of the Middle East are still the same and of Asia in general.

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