Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (Publications on the Near East) [Paperback]

Daniel Martin Varisco (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0295987529 | ISBN-13: 978-0295987521 | Publication Date: November 2007 | Edition: Reprint

The late Edward Said remains one of the most influential critics and public intellectuals of our time, with lasting contributions to many disciplines. Much of his reputation derives from the phenomenal multidisciplinary influence of his 1978 book "Orientalism". Said's seminal polemic analyzes novels, travelogues, and academic texts to argue that a dominant discourse of West over East has warped virtually all past European and American representation of the Near East. But despite the book's wide acclaim, no systematic critical survey of the rhetoric in Said's representation of Orientalism and the resulting impact on intellectual culture has appeared until today.Drawing on the extensive discussion of Said's work in more than 600 bibliographic entries, Daniel Martin Varisco has written an ambitious intellectual history of the debates that Said's work has sparked in several disciplines, highlighting in particular its reception among Arab and European scholars. While pointing out Said's tendency to essentialize and privilege certain texts at the expense of those that do not comfortably fit his theoretical framework, Varisco analyzes the extensive commentary the book has engendered in Oriental studies, literary and cultural studies, feminist scholarship, history, political science, and anthropology.He employs "critical satire" to parody the exaggerated and pedantic aspects of post-colonial discourse, including Said's profound under appreciation of the role of irony and reform in many of the texts he cites. The end result is a companion volume to Orientalism and the vast research it inspired. Rather than contribute to duelling essentialisms, Varisco provides a path to move beyond the binary of East versus West and the polemics of blame. Reading Orientalism is the most comprehensive survey of Said's writing and thinking to date. It will be of strong interest to scholars of Middle East studies, anthropology, history, cultural studies, post-colonial studies, and literary studies.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"There is a lot of commentary available on Edward Said and Orientalism, but nothing like this. Varisco has compiled a comprehensive, critical overview of nearly everything that has been said on the topic. The notes and bibliography alone are a significant contribution to scholarship on Said and his work, but Varisco also uses his vast wealth of sources as the basis for a devastating critique of Said's methodology and conclusions - a critique that fairly acknowledges the beneficial consequences of Orientalism and the issues it raises." Walter G. Andrews, University of Washington "Varisco's book is long and closely argued, and it is impossible adequately to summarize its many points of contention in a review. Its discursive endnotes practically amount to a second book... [Reading Orientalism] makes for exhilarating reading ... "--TLS, May 9, 2008

From the Publisher

There is a lot of commentary available on Edward Said and Orientalism, but nothing like this. Varisco has compiled a comprehensive, critical overview of nearly everything that has been said on the topic. The notes and bibliography alone are a significant contribution to scholarship on Said and his work, but Varisco also uses his vast wealth of sources as the basis for a devastating critique of Said's methodology and conclusions - a critique that fairly acknowledges the beneficial consequences of Orientalism and the issues it raises." - Walter G. Andrews, University of Washington --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 501 pages
• Publisher: University of Washington Press; Reprint edition (November 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0295987529
• ISBN-13: 978-0295987521
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended to all readers of Said's Orientalism, March 15, 2010

By 

Elizabeth A. Root (Laurel, MD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (Publications on the Near East) (Paperback)

This is probably the best book to read after reading Edward Said's Orientalism. Perhaps they should be sold as a set. Orientalism generated an enormous body of critical literature; Varnisco has read more than 600 pieces and presents them here in a carefully documented, highly readable survey. He seems to have striven to be even-handed and fair; for example he both praises and criticizes Bernard Lewis. Since he has a detailed bibliography and notes, it serves equally well as a one-volume overview and as an entrée to all the literature.

Varnisco's notes pose the one difficulty in the book: they are very definitely worth reading as one goes, but with so many, it is hard to choose: continue reading the text or flip back and forth?

Varnisco's writing is marvelous. The introductory material is a little stiff and heavy on the academese, but after that it flows. He pulls together many direct quotations from his enormous variety of sources with grace and produces a highly readable text. In addition, he is very witty, and makes loving use of his language. He often includes well-chosen puns that enrich his text by producing alternative readings, both of which are correct. Examples include the subtitle, The Said and the Unsaid and on page 272: "The volume in question in which the offending article by Lewis appears is poor evidence for Said's dis[cuss]ing of Orientalism-as-usual", or the chapter heading "Defin[ess]ing Orientalism". It is a pleasure to read an author who plays so skillfully with language.

2 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The other half of Edward Said's Orientalism--and of three decades of polemics, August 10, 2009

By 

ROROTOKO (rorotoko dot com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reading Orientalism: Said and the Unsaid (Publications on the Near East) (Paperback)

"Reading Orientalism" is on the ROROTOKO list of cutting-edge intellectual nonfiction. Professor Varisco's book interview ran here as cover feature on April 4, 2009.