Edward Said's Critics

Despite Edward Said’s influence into the research of Orientalism and Eastern culture, his controversial style as a campaigner and an Eastern political activitist has led to a somewhat controversial reputation.

Celik (2002) supports Said’s research into Orientalism, agreeing that “when the Orientalists and intellectuals speak…the Orient as represented by the West sheds its homogeneity, timelessness and passivity, and becomes nuanced and complicated” (Celik 2002, p. 21).  Celik (2002) describes how the complex nature of research into the East stands for itself; the stereotypical “frozen categories” (Celik 2002, p. 21) the Western world try to enclose upon the East are no longer able to form.  This suggests that education is what provides the real strength of the Orientalist in fighting the Western attitudes.

However, Celik’s (2002) description of a Prince Abdulmecid painting which depicts a male cellist surrounded by two women (one a pianist, one playing the violin) shows a contrast to the typical beliefs of the West. “The interaction between genders is established through music and the artistic communication implies mutual respect”(Celik 2002, p.22).  On the one hand, this agrees with Said’s belief that the East are misrepresented because the painting provides the evidence that in fact they believe in gender equality. However, arguably paintings showing harmonious relations between Eastern people also adhere to the misconception of manifest Orientalism, where the East are represented as exotic and in paradise.

When debating what constitutes as a scholarly piece of work, amongst other more presentational formalities, most people would agree that the work had to be completed by someone who was learned in that particular field. However, Karsh and Miller (2008 pp. 13-21) criticize that Said didn’t always do this. They argue, “as false as Said’s claims that ‘every kibbutz is on Arab property that was taken in 1948’ (2008 para. 7), and that ‘Zionists introduced to terrorism into palestine’ in the 1920s. Such statements are outright errors not just interpretations of history” (Karsh, Miller para. 7)

"Orientlalism" - The Key Text

Now I have defined Orientalism, I aim to examine Said’s key theoretical text, ‘Orientalism’, (first published in 1978). I have incorporated discussion within a study group in order to challenge and consolidate my own research.

Said used his support of ‘discourse’ theory (introduced by French philosopher Michel Foucault) to explain his Orientalist views within the text (Said 1995, p3). Discourse refers to the information we receive which makes up an ideology of beliefs (Wetherell et al 2001, p.1). For example, the stereotypical attitudes of the East have been created through cultural history and therefore, are internalized as ‘normal’ beliefs that are acceptable within Western society. 

Said’s dedication to the Marxist belief, “They cannot represent themselves, they must be represented” (Marx 2008, p.124) suggests the important role the book plays quashing the misconceptions formed by the West. The quote suggests an Orientalist unity and personal responsibility to fight the aforementioned stereotypes.

Said repeatedly emphasizes the binaries created between the East and West (Said 1995, pp.1, 12). He believes the epitome of the Orientalist concept is “based upon an ontological and epistemological distinction made between ‘the Orient’ and [most of the time] ‘the Occident” (Said 1995, p.2) (the Occident referring to the West).

The textual structure outlines the key concepts of his theory, before explaining the potential future of Orientalism (Said 1995, pp. 201-202). Said (1995, p. 206) defines the difference between what is known as ‘latent’ and ‘manifest’ Orientalism. ‘Latent’ refers to the “almost unconscious (and certainly untouchable) positivity” of the stereotypical East (Said 1995, p. 206). For example, the beliefs about the East are almost certain to remain the same in the future. They are considered to be the “unanimity, stability, and durability”(Said 1995, p.206) or truths of the East. However, ‘Manifest Orientalism’ refers to “whatever change occurs in knowledge of the Orient” (Said 1995, p.206). This could relate to the appearance, language or artistic assumptions of the East. Manifest Orientalism remains to be the hope of the Orientalist in altering these stereotypes because as culture changes, often people’s attitudes also change.

The attitudes of the West

Previously, I aimed to establish the meaning central to the term ‘Orientalism’. Now, I hope to explore how these meanings have developed and whether there is hope of transgression.

The label 'Orientalism' provides a polar opposite between Western culture and the misinformed view of how the East conduct themselves (Said 1995, p.2). This has led to the ‘Orient’ becoming a negative inversion of Western society (Said 2002, p. 48). These contrasts of segregation can be compared with Fox’s (2004) anthropological observation of typical English unwritten rules and behaviours. Social norms are so deeply steeped in culture, they are considered 'normal' and therefore difficult to recognise. Using a thorough examination of English social tradition i.e. pub culture, Fox argues that she used the book to “try to get inside (the usual stereotypes)” rather than get beyond them (Fox 2004).

Comparisons can therefore be drawn between Fox and Said’s understanding of British culture. Fox (2004) also recongnises the power of knowledge and the need to look beyond the transparent screen of everyday life in order to realistically critique our lifestyles. She maintains the idea that “although there may be a great deal of overlap between…cultures, they are clearly not identical and should not be treated as such by being lumped together under Britishness” (Fox 2004).

It seems these beliefs are stemmed from history as shown by Napolean’s 1798 invasion of Egypt (Said 1995, p.94). Instead of vast armies, he brought flocks of specialists and scholars to record and observe Egypt (Jhally 1998). According to Said, this indicates the binaries formed between the two nations as a result of Orientalism. He explains, "to produce knowledge you have to have the power to be there" (Said 1981, p. XI). The Western abundance of money made it feasible for them to invade Egypt, enabling them to gather information and shape the reputation of the Orient to appear superior.

Introduction to Edward Said

Edward Said is renowned for his comprehensive study of 'Orientalism'. This is essentially a term used to describe the blurred lens in which Western society view the East. He refers to the narrow-minded attitudes of the Western world which stereotype how Eastern citizens are perceived to behave, look, react and live in everyday life. These stereotypes are quite often made by people who may not have even visited or known anyone from the Orient, and are simply generalising an entire nation into a belief system, which originated during colonialism (Sardar, 1999 p. 3).

In a YouTube interview with Said (Jhally 1998), images of women wearing traditional dress are romanticised by light shining over their golden skin suggesting the sexualisation of Eastern women developed by Western society. According to Said, as illustrated in David Cronenberg’s 1993 film version of Madame Butterfly (Cronenberg 1993), Oriental women were considered to be desirable and mysterious (Said 1995, p.1). In Said’s critique ‘Orientalism’, he describes the stereotypical East as a place of “remarkable experiences and landscapes” (Said 1995, p.1) Said recalls discovering a recurring "repertoire" of images of the orient, the "sensual woman whose there to be used by the man"(Jhally 1998).

Said explains his initial interest in researching Orientalism began after the 1973 Arab-Israeli war (Jhally 1998). He suggests that the Israelis saw the Arabs as people who are cowardly and unable to fight. When coupled with his own experience of being an Arab, he started to spot extensive contrasts between reality and the Eastern perception (Jhally 1998), The difference is particularly noticeable in the travel literature of Marco Polo. As critic Manzurul Islam (2008) writes, Polo’s travels to the East contain “the full range of the tropes of othering that shaped the Western sense of identity and difference” (Conklin Akbari et al. 2008) This implies that because the West had knowledge through technology and therefore the ability to travel, they had power (Sardar 1999 p. 10).