Edward Said was a 20th century Western philosopher known for his book "Orientalism" which introduced and defined the concept of Orientalism. Orientalism refers to the cultural representations and assumptions in the West about the Eastern world, especially the Middle East, that were influenced by imperialism and colonialism. Said argued that Orientalism promoted a false dichotomy between the Occident (Western world) and Orient (Eastern world), casting the latter as mysterious and irrational compared to the civilized and rational West. The document provides context on Said and Orientalism and examines how Western perceptions of Eastern cultures were shaped by colonial attitudes.

1. What is Orientalism?
Prepared by - Bathavar Virajee
Course: - M.A. English
Semester: -3
Enrolment no: - PG15101001
Submitted to: - Smt. S.B.Gardi Dept. of English
MKBU
Email id: - bathvarvirji@gmail.com
Paper no11 : - The Postcolonial Literature

2. Introduction:-
• Edward said
• Edward said was born 1st
November, 1935, died in 25th
September, 2003.
• He was western philosopher of
20th century.
• He was famous for his book
“Orientalism”.
• He Generally deals with Post
colonialism, Postmodernism,
Occidentalism and Orientalism.

3. Orientalism:-
• Orientalism is book written by
Edward said.
• Published in 1978.
• In the book, said successfully
redefined the term
“Orientalism” to mean a
constellation of false assumption
underlying western attitudes
toward the Middle East.

4. Definition of Orientalism by Said
• Said’s Orientalism can be a critical tool to
examine the validity of all the literature on the
East written by the westerns. Influenced by
the imperialism and colonialism of the 19th
century, western people became interested in
the natives and the cultures of Western
colonies.

5. Meaning and history of orient
• The term “Orient” is derived from the Latin word
“Oriens” meaning “East”.
• The country of the east especially East Asia.
• Study of orient means a study of orients.
• The orients almost a European invention, had
been since antiquity a place of romance, exotic
beings, haunting memories and landscapes,
remarkable experience.

6. What is Orientalism ?
• Which examines the denotations and
connotations of Orientalism,and the history of
a country's post-colonial period.
• Cultural representations that are the
foundations of Western thought and
perception of the Eastern world, specifically
about the region of the Middle East.
• It was "anti-western".

7. What is Orientalism ?

8. Occident -Orient
Western
• civilized
Colonizer
East
modern
Colonized
Uncivilized
Present/
future
Past
Mysterious

9. Active
Rational
Sophisticated
Lazy
Irrational
Unsophisticated

10. Conclusion
• Thus, the term "Orientalism" become a
negative word regarding non–Western
peoples and cultures. So after all it is about
two different languages, people, culture, etc.

11. References:
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orientalism
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Said
• http://www.slideshare.net/nidhijasani/what-
is-orieantalism?qid=9ab59cc2-73c9-4c01-
98e3-837430ae41a7&v=&b=&from_search=9

12. Thank you…