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Orientalism Paperback – October 12, 1979
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"Intellectual history on a high order ... and very exciting." —The New York Times
In this wide-ranging, intellectually vigorous study, Said traces the origins of "orientalism" to the centuries-long period during which Europe dominated the Middle and Near East and, from its position of power, defined "the orient" simply as "other than" the occident. This entrenched view continues to dominate western ideas and, because it does not allow the East to represent itself, prevents true understanding.
- Print length368 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherVintage
- Publication dateOctober 12, 1979
- Dimensions5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
- ISBN-10039474067X
- ISBN-13978-0394740676
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Powerful and disturbing.... The theme is the way in which intellectual traditions are created and transmitted." —The New York Review of Books
"Stimulating, elegant yet pugnacious.... Said observes the West observing the Arabs, and he does not like what he finds." —The Observer
"An important book.... Never has there been as sustained and as persuasive a case against Orientalism as Said's." —Jerusalem Post
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About the Author
He is the author of twenty-two books which have been translated into 35 languages, including Orientalism (1978); The Question of Palestine (1979); Covering Islam (1980); The World, the Text, and the Critic (1983); Culture and Imperialism (1993); Peace and Its Discontents: Essays on Palestine and the Middle East Peace Process (1996); and Out of Place: A Memoir (1999). Besides his academic work, he wrote a twice-monthly column for Al-Hayat and Al-Ahram; was a regular contributor to newspapers in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East; and was the music critic for The Nation.
Product details
- Publisher : Vintage; First Ed. edition (October 12, 1979)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 368 pages
- ISBN-10 : 039474067X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0394740676
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #20,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #12 in Colonialism & Post-Colonialism
- #21 in Middle Eastern Politics
- #28 in Israel & Palestine History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Edward W. Said was University Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Society of Literature and of Kings College Cambridge, his celebrated works include Orientalism, The End of the Peace Process, Power, Politics and Culture, and the memoir Out of Place. He is also the editor, with Christopher Hitchens, of Blaming the Victims, published by Verso. He died in September 2003.
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Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book readable and important for challenging their assumptions about the Near East. They describe it as scholarly and intellectual, with an excellent critique of western intellectual attitudes towards the Near East. Many consider it a classic and a history of history. However, opinions differ on the text quality - some find it well-written and educational, while others find it confusing and difficult to read.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers find the book engaging and worth reading. They appreciate its insights into assumptions and consider it a valuable work. While some find the content dense at times, most describe it as an enjoyable and informative read.
"...text that, even as a slow reader, was finished quickly and was extremely enjoyable and valuable, opening up a new area of study in a way that allows..." Read more
"...disagree with the contents of this book, yet, it still shows good examples of how ideas, without the need to be right or wrong, get produced and..." Read more
"...I describe this as an great introduction; however, this could mislead one from understanding that this volume vastly surpasses mere introduction...." Read more
"Edward Said, author of one of the greatest books of our time, 'Orientalism', has become some sort of role model in our society...." Read more
Customers find the book's content scholarly and challenging. They describe it as an excellent critique of western intellectual attitudes towards the Near East. The book has informed scholars and policy makers, challenging common views and creating debate among them.
"...produced and then reproduced and then gain authority, informing scholars and policy makers and affecting people they think they understand...." Read more
"Written with both academic and intellectual bravery, Said lays out decades of analysis of a decrepit and western chauvinist discipline known as..." Read more
"...Said's volume is a superb scholarly work that even well-read academics can gain insight from as well as appreciate just as much as readers who are..." Read more
"...I thoroughly enjoyed the book as it provided broad scope explaining Occidentalism and Orientalism...." Read more
Customers find the book a classic and significant history of postcolonialism. They say it's timeless and one of the best books written in the 20th century.
"...covered in this volume include views on area studies, historical method across time..." Read more
"...Because of this, the book is predistined to make history (it's already considered a classic), but is all the same just another work of Western..." Read more
"This is great book on postcolonialism...." Read more
"Dense but a classic and breakthrough for its time." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the text quality. Some find it well-written and educational, with fascinating discussions of schemata authority. Others find the text confusing, rambling, and difficult to read, especially for non-specialists. The language used is at times arcane, but if you're interested in the subject it's worth reading.
"...points when he starts to sound like a broken record, his prose is fairly consistent in being engaging and effectively communicating his desired point..." Read more
"...that is also a pleasure to read, Said employs verbose, unnecessarily convoluted sentences and ambiguous phrases that often require his audience to..." Read more
"Written with both academic and intellectual bravery, Said lays out decades of analysis of a decrepit and western chauvinist discipline known as..." Read more
"...different authors and the general tone in this section, I found difficult to read. I continuously lost my focus and had to go back...." Read more
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The Persistence of Western Arrogance
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2023Said’s Orientalism is a staple that bridges the gap between several discourses and academic studies including Post-colonial studies, Cultural Theory, Critical Theory, Literary Theory, and countless others. Paradoxically, however, Said’s main criticism is aimed at such cemented academic fields, epitomized by Orientalism, the field aimed at studying the Orient from a Western perspective. Said’s underlying question is stated near the end of the book (~p.300): “How can we come to understand other cultures?” This seemingly simple question proliferates a very dangerous assumption: that culture stands out there as some pre-social object waiting to be apprehended by the rational subject (namely, the Westerner). As Said shows, and in a way he explicitly states as being indebted to Foucault, that culture is constructed principally through the discursive operations of a particular subject. To *be* an Oriental is to embody certain assumptions which become proliferated by a discourse (Orientalism) whose construction is such that it is essentially unfalsifiable. As Said aptly points out, the Oriental (a term we stray from using today for its obviously racist undertones which Said carefully traces across modern history and in the history of colonialism) is put into a position where he is to embody contradictory qualities simultaneously such that his identity is always one of negativity, an instrumental object for the purposes of the Westerner’s use: lacking in rationality yet containing the birth of our modern sciences and religious traditions, disorganized yet forming vast networks of control (apropos the Caliphate), static and forever solidified as a continuous identity that can be understood whilst simultaneously being unwieldy and schizophrenic in their diversity. All of these are used to back the Oriental into a corner such that he is merely a tool which can be utilized by the Westerner.
I think many of those who are keen on criticizing Said as “painting with too broad of strokes” (such was another review here on Amazon claiming that he was too harsh on Bernard Lewis’ appraisal of Arabic philologically) have not fully understood his project, which is that if we trace Orientalism back, understanding it as a *discourse* (in the Foucaultian sense), we are able to extrapolate certain recurring themes that identify why it seems that Orientals can always somehow appear as racist stereotypes — it is precisely because their image through Western blinders has manufactured the Oriental’s inevitability viz the image.
All being said, this is an indispensable text for Post-colonial studies, as well as being instrumental for studies of literary theory, critical theory, and certain strands of poststructuralist/postmodern thought (Foucault, Derrida, even Deleuze). It ready fairly fast and, although it is slow at certain points when he starts to sound like a broken record, his prose is fairly consistent in being engaging and effectively communicating his desired point. An important positive that makes this book more accessible than other Post-colonial material is that it is not very theoretically dense as opposed to someone like Homi Bhabha. Instead, Said opts for a more historically vast characterization of the problem that still provides the same theoretical points whilst allowing the complexity of his point — that identity is not latent within objects and existing pre-socially, instead existing only within a discourse build on implicit power-imbalances — to shine through to those who may not want or be ready for a text of more abstract a nature. All and all, this is a great text that, even as a slow reader, was finished quickly and was extremely enjoyable and valuable, opening up a new area of study in a way that allows one to access a whole new problematic that may have previously appeared only as invisibility.
- Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2024This book will give you an idea of why the west looks at and treats the east in the way it does.
You can agree and disagree with the contents of this book, yet, it still shows good examples of how ideas, without the need to be right or wrong, get produced and then reproduced and then gain authority, informing scholars and policy makers and affecting people they think they understand. The same ideas that in reality lack any foundation in truth or reason. And that understanding is far from being real and is usually based on prejudice and disdain to the subject under study.
- Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2024Written with both academic and intellectual bravery, Said lays out decades of analysis of a decrepit and western chauvinist discipline known as Orientalism. Effectively relegating it to where it belongs - the dustbin! Said walks you through the appropriation of the eastern world by oxidant imperial forces of the colonizing west to bring forth Orientalists clear motives - to lay claim to vast areas of cultural wealth for itself and only itself. Said demonstrates revolutionary epistemology with his approach to Orientalism and thus has reshaped how we should view the near, middle, and far east. The devastating impact of Orientalism can be seen writ large upon current events when one adapts Said's lens. Read this book! Share it with your friends!
- Reviewed in the United States on December 15, 2011This is an excellent introduction to the scholarship of both Said's, as well as, questions of context --object, subject, definitions and "Enframing" of Otherness, to name but a few of the many topics. I describe this as an great introduction; however, this could mislead one from understanding that this volume vastly surpasses mere introduction. Said's volume is a superb scholarly work that even well-read academics can gain insight from as well as appreciate just as much as readers who are not as familiar with the scholastic issues.
If one is seeking a single volume to both jettison into the historiography of Orientalism and the Orientalists approach and worldview, then this is a must buy! Said meticulously traces these themes from origins to proponents, as well as a convincing invective against the scholastic failures the Orientialists commit. Additional topics covered in this volume include views on area studies, historical method across time (one could say methodological historiography --but who needs jargon), and a nuanced perspective of European engagement with the East.
This written, I have found that this is a volume that is both concise and pithy: a must have form anyone interested in expanding their understanding of history, philology, and Western confrontation and description of the Near East.
Finally, I highly suggest one to buy the more recent publication over the (most likely) less expensive used copies: if you buy used, make sure that your volume includes the 25th anniversary edition introduction --it is quite helpful and an introduction in the most literal sense.
Hope this helps people have a greater perspective of the contents and arguments of the book.
Top reviews from other countries
Carlos GranadinoReviewed in Mexico on December 8, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Great book
The media could not be loaded.
Professor Joseph ChandrakanthanReviewed in Canada on October 20, 20245.0 out of 5 stars A great Book
I will highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Oriental Studies
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F. MooreReviewed in Germany on January 6, 20255.0 out of 5 stars Ein Klassiker der postkolonialen Literatur
Edward Saids "Orientalism" ist ein Meilenstein der postkolonialen Theorie und gehört definitiv zu den Werken, die man gelesen haben sollte, um die westlichen Vorstellungen und Stereotype über den Orient besser zu verstehen. Es regt zum Nachdenken an und bietet tiefgehende Einblicke in die historischen, kulturellen und politischen Hintergründe, die bis heute relevant sind.
Was die Qualität des Buchs betrifft, war alles in Ordnung. Die Ausgabe ist solide verarbeitet und angenehm zu lesen. Ein Klassiker, der in keiner kritischen Geisteswissenschaftssammlung fehlen sollte.
Fazit: Ein essenzielles Werk für alle, die sich mit postkolonialen Theorien oder kulturellen Konstruktionen beschäftigen wollen.
AReviewed in the Netherlands on September 2, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Looks brand new
Thank you!
Thank you!5.0 out of 5 stars
ALooks brand new
Reviewed in the Netherlands on September 2, 2024
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VReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 20, 20245.0 out of 5 stars Interesting.
Purchased as a gift for my son who is studying anthropology. Reading the blurb & other in depth positive reviews , I decided he would like this. He is looking forward to reading it all but so far so good.
Arrived in mint condition.









