ISLAMANDORIENTALISM

Edward Said --a professor of comparative literature at Columbia

University-- has been applauded as one of the most important literary and
cultural critics of the late 20th century. Said's book, Orientalism: Western
Conceptions of the Orient, established his reputation and claimed Western
portrayal of Arab-Islamic culture revealed more about Western imperialism
than the cultures Westerners observed. Said states that most of what the West
knew about the non-Western world is known in the framework of colonialism.
This thesis led Said to argue that Western scholarship on Muslim societies
essentially and continually misrepresents their reality and their worth. Has Said
got it right?
This essay then will evaluate Said's hypothesis on orientalism. Before
the evaluation, a brief outline on Said and orientalism is presented in the
following paragraph.
SaidandOrientalism
In his book, Orientalism, Said defines orientalism as a system invented
by the West on the assumption of a strong distinction between East and West.
Europe as represented by orientalism has usually looked at the Orient as a
place of romance inhabited by exotic human beings and filled with haunting
memories and landscape. Said takes the late 18th century as an approximate
starting point for Western orientalism, which he describes as the corporate
institution for dealing with the Orient --dealing with it by making statements
about it, authorizing views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, and
ruling over it: in short, orientalism is a Western style for dominating,
2
restructuring and having authority over the orient.
1
Orientalism, although
purporting to be an objective, disinterested, and rather esoteric field, in fact
functioned to serve political ends. Orientalist scholarsip provided the means
through which Europeans could take over Oriental lands. Said argues that
most of what the West knew about the non-Western world is known in the
framework of colonialism.
2

In developing his argument, Said not only claims that orientalism helped
define Europe's self-image, but also argues that European knowledge of the
Orient was for the purpose of sustaining or increasing European power and
dominion over the Orient.
3
The Orient was the product of Western imperialism
and cultural dominance.
4
Said argues that all formal Western knowledge of
Asia was not a body of objective learning but mere orientalism. Orientalism led
the West to see Islamic culture as static in both time and place, as eternal,
uniform and incapable of defining itself. This gave Europe a sense of its own
cultural and intellectual superiority. The West consequently saw itself as a
dynamic, innovative, expanding culture, as well as the spectator, the judge and
jury of every facet of Oriental behaviour.
5
Said believes that western writings
about the Middle East, though based on distortion and inaccuracy, created an
influential body of theory and practice, and established the idea of European
cultural superiority which has met very little resistance on the part of the
Orient.
1
E.W. Said, Orientalism: Western Conception of the Orient, Penguin Books, London, 1995, p.
3.
2
E.W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the Experts Determine How We see the Rest
of the World, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, london, 1981, p. 155.
3
G.A. Oddie, 'Orientalism and British Protestant Missionary Construction of India and the
Nineteenth Century, South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies, vol. XVII, no. 2, 1994, p. 27.
4
See N. McInnes, 'Orientalism, the Evolution of a Concept', The National Interest, no. 54,
Winter 1998, p. 73.
5
E.W.Said, Orientalism, op. cit., p. 7.
3
To Said, orientalism does not study the orient for the sake of
establishing the truth of what it describes, and it possesses no disinterested
view of the object of its preoccupation. Moreover, Orientalist writings have
often demonstrated a residual fear of Islam, and an archetypal pattern of
aggressivness toward it as an important historical phenomenon which
endangered the West for centuries. Most of the great philosophers of history
from Hegel to Spengler, affirms Said, have regarded Islam without much
enthusiasm.
6
In addition, Said argues that orientalism has produced a false
description of Arabs and Islamic cultures. This happened primarily because of
the essentialist nature of the enterprise -- that is, the belief that it was possible
to define the essential qualities of Arab peoples and Islamic culture. These
qualities were seen in uniformly negative terms, he says. The Orient was as a
place isolated from the mainstream of human progress in the sciences, arts
and commerce.
The misrepresentation of the East in orientalism, even in its most
scholarly phase, has its source not only in power relations but also in history.
According to Said, European response to Islamic hegemony over a large part
of the world at the start of the 14th century produced a lasting trauma.
7
As
early as the 11th century, Erchembert, a cleric of Monte Cassino, had
described the Muslim armies as a swarm of bees, but with a heavy hand...
they devastated everything.
8
Such ideas as that of terror, devastation and
voluptuousness became inextricably associated with Muslims. For most of the
Middle Ages and during the early part of the Renaissance in Europe, modern
Occidental reactions to Islam have been dominated by a radically simplified
6
E.W. Said, Covering Islam, op. cit., p. 13.
7
E.W. Said, Orientalism, op.cit., p. 59.
8
Ibid.
4
type of thinking that may still be called Orientalist. Islam was believed to be a
demonic religion of apostasy, blasphemy, and obscurity
9
. These
misconceptions were institutionalised in the West in terms of a superiority-
inferiority distinction.
For Said, orientalism is a discursive phenomenon, internally consistent
and self-perpetuating in virtual insulation from any correspondence with a real
Orient.
10
In short, orientalism is an ideology, the purpose of which aimed
covertly to nourish the political domination of the West. Finally Said sums up
his view on orientalism by comparing orientalism to a drama and the orientalist
to a dramatist:
In the depth of this Oriental stage stands a prodigious cultural
repertoire whose individual items evoke a fabulously rich world: the
Spinx, Cleopatra, Eden, Troy, Sodom and Gomorrah, Astarte, Isis and
Osiris, Sheba, Babylon, the Ginii, the Magi, Nineveh, Prester John,
Mahomet, and dozens more; settings, in some cases names only,
half-imagined, half-known; monsters, devils, heroes; terrors,
pleasures, desires.
11
Said's argument on orientalism, says Minear, is a complex one. He
deals not simply with academic orientalists, but with adventurers, novelists,
philosophers; not simply with scholarly interpretations, but with a style of
thought; not simply with ideas, but also with orientalism as a corporate
institution.
12
Yet, although pointing to something important --that is imbalance
or asymmetry between Islam and the West and the continuing prejudice,
9
See N. Daniel, The Arabs and Medieval Europe, Longmans Green & Co., London, 1975.
10
See M. Sharapuddin, Islam and Romantic Orientalism: Literary Encounters with the Orient,
I.B. Tauris Publishers, London, 1994, p. XVi.
11
E.W. Said, Orientalism, op. cit., p. 63.
12
R.H. Minear, 'Orientalism and the Study of Japan',Journal of Asian Studies, vol. XXXIX, no. 3,
1980, p. 507.
5
stereotypes and caricatures created of Islam by the West-- Said's position has
created serious intellectual problems. Orientalism itself has become a cliche,
and third world literature is now replete with accusation and labels of
orientalism being hurled at critics and at one author by another at the slightest
excuse.
Critiquesand Evaluation
Said's analysis of orientalism is a powerful one, and any serious study
of the subject has to take it on board. It is presumably true that Said is
successful in proving orientalism as an academic discourse which is
encouraged by colonialism and imperialism. And it is clear that the purpose of
orientalism was not merely the erudite or imaginative interest in a region, but
the traditions and vested interests of a scholarly guild (oriental studies) alleged
to work hand in hand with colonialism and imperialism.
13
Overall, Said's thesis
is the reflection and proof of Western notions of superiority over the Orient.
The history has shown that the Oriental World has been dominated by
Western power in economy, politics, culture, ideology, knowledge and
technology. In this case, the Oriental World has been "Orientalised".
In addition, Said is successful in removing the mask of the European
scholar who approached his subject (Orient world) in the framework of
Western colonialism and imperialism. The Orient then seems to be a theatrical
affix to Europe. Here, audiences were served a prodigious cultural repertoire
whose settings, decoration and costume were provided by Europe. Through
this cultural repertoire and the orientalism discourse, the European imagination
was built; the West is rationalist, civilised and superior, and contrasted to the
Orient which was timeless, mysterious, primitive and inferior.
13
V. Brombert, 'Orientalism and the Scandals of Scholarship', The American Scholars,
Washington, vol. 48, 1979, p. 532.
6
The Western culture, in consequence, has become a trade-mark in the
whole sphere of discourse. Its superiority has been felt by peoples in the
world, especially through the politics of imperialism. For almost one century,
the world's politics was dominated by capitalism, colonialism, liberalism and
technology. Imperialism was the label attached to a stage in the development
of capitalism which led to the domination and exploitation by the West
(developed countries) of the Orient (developing countries).
14
Moreover, the
Western hegemony has therefore probably created the distorted image of
Islam. Watt points out that Western perception of Muslims came under four
headings: (1) Islam is false and a deliberate perversion of truth, (2) Islam is a
religion which is spread by violence and the sword, (3) Islam is a religion of
self-indulgence, and (4) Muhammad is the Anti-Christ.
15

Although Said presents an extraordinary analysis, there are, however,
some critiques regarding his thesis on orientalism. Firstly, there is a curious
sidelight to Said's thesis. Orientalists may have been employed in quite large
numbers by governments intent on imperialist goals or found their way into
orientalism through one or other of the colonial services, but this was largely
because few institutions other than governments or academies could employ
such specialists. Furthermore, not all orientalists became servants of
imperialism, and even of those who were, according to Woodcock, many
performed extraordinary feats of disinterested research.
16
Said also provides
no support at all for his contention that colonial rule was justified in advance by
orientalism because, according to Windschuttle, he fails to cite evidence about
14
I. Roxborough, Theories of Underdevelopment, Macmillan Press, London, 1994, p. 56.
15
W.M. Watt, Muslim-Christian Encounter; Perception and Misperceptions, Routledge, London,
1991, pp. 85-86.
16
G. Woodcock, op. cit., p. 302
7
the actual causal sequence that led to the annexation of any of the territories
occupied by England or France in the nineteenth century.
17
Said justifies his
decision to omit German orientalists from his analysis by claiming that German
scholars came to the field later than the British and French. It is quite clear that
Said derived advantage from this strategy. The Germans were prominent
orientalists, yet Germany never went on to become an imperial power in any of
the Oriental countries of North Africa or the Middle East.
18

In addition, the point of origin for Said's argument on orientalism is the
18th century Western discourse of hostility toward the Arab-Islamic world. His
study of orientalism traces the development of an academic discipline that is a
Western form of thought and an agency of power for wielding control over
Arabs. To all intents and purposes, what Said then means by orientalism is
really the complex of European-American studies relating to the Arab section
of the Islamic word. Even Iran and the emirates of Central Asia hardly figure at
all in his disquisitions; Malaysia and Indonesia are rarely mentioned, and there
is not a word about Muslims in the Philippines, Nigeria or the Sudan. In other
words, many scholars argue that the scope of orientalism is not limited to the
Middle East. Bartholomeusz has pointed out that Said dilated on the rhetoric of
difference or hostility in early orientalist writings because his purpose was to
historicise stereotypes that preclude a Western identification with Arabs.
19
The
problem, according to Kopf, is not simply one of over-generalising from a
limited area of study, but also Said is not really talking about orientalism as it
17
K. Windschuttle, 'Edward Said's Orientalism: Literary Critic', New Criterion, vol. 17. no. 15,
1999, p. 30.
18
Ibid.
19
T. Bartholomeusz, 'Spiritual Wealth and Neo-orientalism', Journal of Ecumenical Studies, vol.
35, 1998, p. 19.
8
existed in concrete historical reality: as an ideology, a movement, and a set of
social institutions.
20
Another critique was that to condemn all orientalists as driven by
imperialism interest and a pathological hatred of Islam is incorrect. As Ahmed
says, the work of the older orientalists was marked by many positive features.
In this category are the well-known names of Bernard Lewis, Arthur Arberry,
Montgomery Watt, Louis Massignon and Charis Waddy.
21
For example, in the
passion generated by the debate, Said has missed out the great contribution
of many orientalist scholars. The writings of Ibn Khaldun, Ibnu Battuta, or the
Mughal emperor Babar come to us only through the painstaking scholarship
of orientalists who spent a life-time deciphering note in Asian languages and
sitting in remote libraries.
22
For them it was a labour of love. Of course, Said
would be right to complain were Western ideas about Islamic peoples confined
solely to stereotypes of their founding texts and early history. But it is simply
untrue that the whole body of oriental scholarship has made this kind of
mistake. It seems that Said does not appreciate orientalist writings and even
condemns nearly every writer who has written about the Near East. His
argument is unfair and unpersuasive because he deliberately ignores or
minimises or distorts the positive attitudes toward the Orient.
Furthermore, Said also neglects to answer why the Orientalist view on
Islam was very dominant. This view dominated because there was no
correspondingly strong Eastern counter-image of either the Occident or the
20
See D. Kopf, 'Hermeuneutics versus History', Journal of Asian Studies, vol. XXXIX, no. 3,
1980, p. 495.
21
A.S. Ahmed, Postmodernism and Islam; Predicament and Promise, Routledge, London,
1992, p. 180.
22
A.S. Ahmed & H. Donnan, Islam, Globalization and Postmodernity, Routledge, London, 1994,
p. 5.
9
Orient to oppose and balance this view. As Meyers maintains, Islam is not
vitally interested in the structured study of other cultures, either as an end in
itself or as a means toward a clearer understanding of its own character and
history.
23
In this case, Muslim scholars should improve their effort to counter-
attack orientalist writings on Islam by socialising an occidentalism.
Overall, Said's critique of orientalism, though at times excessive, was
insightful in identifying deficiencies and bias in the scholarship of the past.
However, new forms of orientalism flourish today in the hands whose who
equate revivalism, fundamentalism, or Islamic movements solely with radical
revolutionaries, and who fail to focus on the vast majority of Islamically
committed Muslims who belong to the moderate mainstream of society.
According to Esposito, the challenge today, as in the past, is to avoid the easy
answers yielded by stereotyping or the projection of monolithic threat, to
distinguish between the beliefs and the activities of majority (whether the be
Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews and Buddhists) and a minority of extremists
who justify their aggression and violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or
political ideology.
24
To conclude, whether what Said presents is objectively true, or whether
it is a subjective and slightly paranoid projection of his own situation as an
Arab absorbed into a western academic world, the fact remains that he does
raise important questions regarding westerners approach to way of life and
ways of thinking outside western tradition.
25
Last, it is necessary to note that
23
J. Meyers, 'Under Western Eyes', The Sewanee Review, The University Press of Sewanee,
Tennessee, vol. LXXXVIII, 1980, p. XLIV.
24
J.L. Esposito, The Islamic Threat; Myth or Reality, Oxford Univrsity Press, New York, 1992,
p. IX.
25
G. Woodcock, 'The Challange of Others', Queen's Quarterly, vol. 87, no. 2, Summer 1980, p.
302.
10
every one (including orientalist scholars) should see Muslims and the Muslims
world as a unity. Similarly, Europe or the West should also be appreciated in
their diversity and complexity. Yet, Esposito states, since both sides tend to
consider and talk about each other as a bloc, the language of "Islam and the
West" will of necessity be employed at times.
26

Bibliography
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Routledge, London, 1994.
Ahmed, A.S. Postmodernism and Islam; Predicament and Promise,
Routledge, London, 1992.
Bartholomeusz, T. 'Spiritual Wealth and Neo-orientalism', Journal of
Ecumenical Studies, vol. 35, 1998.
Brombert, V. 'Orientalism and the Scandals of Scholarship', The American
Scholars, Washington, vol. 48, 1979.
Daniel, N. The Arabs and Medieval Europe, Longmans Green & Co., London,
1975.
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York, 1992.
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no. 3, 1980.
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no. 54, Winter 1998.
Meyers, J. 'Under Western Eyes', The Sewanee Review, The University Press
of Sewanee, Tennessee, vol. LXXXVIII, 1980.
26
J. L. Esposito, op. cit., p. XIV.
11
Minear, R.H. 'Orientalism and the Study of Japan',Journal of Asian Studies,
vol. XXXIX, no. 3, 1980.
Oddie, G.A. 'Orientalism and British Protestant Missionary Construction of
India and the Nineteenth Century, South Asia: Journal of South Asian
Studies, vol. XVII, no. 2, 1994.
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1994.
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We See the Rest of the World, Routledge & Kegan Paul Ltd, London,
1981.
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London, 1995.
Sharapuddin, M. Islam and Romantic Orientalism: Literary Encounters with the
Orient, I.B. Tauris Publishers, London, 1994.
Watt, W.M. Muslim-Christian Encounter; Perception and Misperceptions,
Routledge, London, 1991.
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17. no. 15, 1999.
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Summer 1980.