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brnineworms's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
The first chapter of Orientalism was really strong (I’d give it four and a half stars in isolation) but chapters two and three struggled to hold my interest for the most part (I’d give them each three stars, for an overall average rating of three and a half). Said’s writing reminds me of Marx’s – it’s dense and dry but it’s well-researched and it’s clear that a lot of thought went into keeping the book as accessible as possible without losing that academic rigour.
The first chapter introduces the subject of Orientalism and explores its origins and manifestations, while the later chapters shift the focus towards individual Orientalist writers, using them as exemplary case studies. On that note, Said chooses to look at Orientalist literature exclusively, but what of paintings or architecture? When I think of Orientalism, I think of artworks by the likes of Gérôme, Lewis, or Weeks. To relegate that entire movement to no more than a passing mention seems odd to me. There’s also a focus on the Middle East and Egypt with not much said about the rest of Asia, though this is a little more understandable since the author, raised in Jerusalem and Cairo, is writing what he knows. I’ve seen some people accuse him of cherry-picking in order to push some kind of agenda but I’m not sure I’d go that far. What I will say is this: Orientalism is foundational but far from comprehensive. There were topics which I expected to feature prominently that were hardly acknowledged; likewise, there were angles which I hadn’t considered that Said brought up but didn’t delve into (you can’t casually mention teratology then move on, Edward, you can’t do that to me).
Orientalism feels thorough yet, at the same time, paradoxically underdeveloped. I enjoyed it overall and I would certainly recommend reading the first third, which is full of great insights. Here’s a quote:
“I use the word “arbitrary” here because imaginative geography of the “our land–barbarian land” variety does not require that the barbarians acknowledge the distinction. It is enough for “us” to set up these boundaries in our own minds; “they” become “they” accordingly, and both their territory and their mentality are designated as different from “ours.” To a certain extent modern and primitive societies seem thus to derive a sense of their identities negatively. [...] Yet often the sense in which someone feels himself to be not-foreign is based on a very unrigorous idea of what is “out there,” beyond one’s own territory. All kinds of superstitions, associations, and fictions appear to crowd the unfamiliar space outside one’s own.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Islamophobia, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Antisemitism, Racial slurs, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Misogyny, and War
Minor: Slavery, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Genocide, Homophobia, Death, Excrement, Murder, Self harm, and Sexual violence
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