Here is the synopsis of our sample research paper on Edward Said/Orientalism. Have the paper e-mailed to you 24/7/365.
Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 3 page essay that first of all discusses the major points of Said's text Orientalism, which argue that the Western interpretation of other cultures provided a necessary vocabulary for demonizing non-Europeans that served to rationalize European and American imperialism. In other words, Said proposes that the ways in which the West conceived the Orient, and in many ways still does, tells much more about the Western mindset than it does about the people who are the focus of Orientalism. The writer then discusses the rebuttal of Said's thesis offered by Keith Windschuttle. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khsaidag.rtf
Buy This Term Paper »
Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
which the colonized society was represented in Western culture. Saids thesis is that this Western interpretation of other cultures provided a necessary vocabulary for demonizing non-Europeans that served to rationalize
European and American imperialism. In other words, Said proposes that the ways in which the West conceived the Orient, and in many ways still does, tells much more about the
Western mindset than it does about the people who are the focus of Orientalism. In supporting his supposition, Said relies heavily on the work and theories of French philosopher
and historian Michel Foucault, who has written extensively on the relationship between knowledge and power. Applying Foucaults logic and argument, Said maintains that it was the "knowledge" of Oriental scholarship
that actually provided the rationale for European usurpation of Oriental territory. Said states, "Colonial rule was justified in advance of Orientalism, rather than after the fact" (30). Said argues that
the Orient is perceived by Europeans as being something like a "theatrical stage affixed to Europe" (63). Consequently, he considers the scholar who has specialized in a study of the
Orient based on European sources to be a "particular specialist in knowledge for which Europe at large is responsible" (63). Saids text puts forth three basic arguments. First of all
(as indicated above), Said maintains that Oriental studies, rather than being an objective field actually serves political ends. Secondly, Said argues that Orientalism, rather than defining the inhabitants of the
Orient served to define European self image. Said also maintains that it was through Orientalism that the West came to see Islamic culture as static in time and place, which
gave Europeans a sense of their own cultural and intellectual superiority. As this suggests, the focus of Saids book is on Arab cultures located in the Middle East and North
...