Orientalism

Orientalism

At a crucial moment in the history of relations of East and West, Orient and Occident, Christianity and Islam, Orientalism provides a timely account of the subject and the debate.

In the 1960s and 1970s a powerful assault was launched on orientalism the study of the Arab world. At the centre of this attack was Edward Said, whose devastating critique accused Western orientalists of creating stereotypical images of the Orient, thereby facilitating imperialism and colonialism and inciting chauvinism and racism.

The debate ranged for beyond the traditional limits of `dry and dust orientalism. As current as ever, it involves questions concerning the nature of identity, the nature of imperialism, Islamophobia, myth, Arabism, racialism, intercultural relations and feminism.

Charting the history of the debate about the nature of orientalism, this stimulating account revisits the arguments and surveys the associated case studies.

Alexander Lyon Macfie has written widely on the modern history of the Near and Middle East. His books include `The Eastern Question (1996) and `The End of the Ottoman Empire (1998) and `Orientalism: A Reader (2000)..