A man of great intellect and courage, Edward Said (1935-2003) taught English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. This Palestinian writer and activist was widely respected for his ground-breaking research in the field of comparative literature and on his incisive political commentary. As well, he wrote classical music criticism for The Nation and political commentary for such publications as the Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique, and al-Hayat, the Arab-language daily, which is printed in every Arab capital in the world.
He was born in Jerusalem, and with his family he emigrated (1948) to Cairo, about the time Israel declared its independence and the Arab-Israeli war began. The family moved (1950) to the New York, so that he could attended college. Later, Said studied at Princeton and Harvard, where he graduated Ph.D. in 1964. Most of his academic career was spent in New York as a professor at Columbia, but he was also a visiting professor at many leading universities.
Like Noam Chomsky, he became an intellectual of the first rank. Both activists more or less see the public role of the intellectual in terms of being the outsider, the amateur, and the disturber of the status quo. Both critique the media as impediments to an understanding of what governments actually do behind closed doors, thereby promoting a sense of resistance. He lectured at more than 150 universities and colleges in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Because of his advocacy for Palestinian self-determination and his membership in the Palestine National Council, he was only latterly allowed to visit Palestine.
Said published many important books, including Orientalism (1978), a critique of the Eurocentrism that had come to typify Orient...
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...s to the politics, oil economics, and the simple-minded dichotomy of freedom-loving democratic Israel and evil, totalitarian, and terrorist Arabs, establishing a clear view of the Near East has become difficult. My experiences in these matters made me write this. The life of an Arab Palestinian in the West is rather disheartening, for the web of racism, cultural stereotypes, political imperialism, and so on is very strong. The nexus of knowledge and power that creates "the Oriental" and in a sense establishes him as a human being is not (for me) an exclusively academic matter. I have been able to put to use my humanistic and political concern for the development and consolidation of Orientalism (p. 52).
Works Cited
Said, Edward W. 1978. "Orientalism." In Studies in Culture: An Introductory Reader, ed. Ann Gray and Jim McGuigan. London: Arnold, 1997, pp. 42-53.
Orientalism is the way that the Middle East is depicted by its’ friendly acquaintances over in the West. In other terms, it is a “racist discourse which constructs the orient for Western aggrandizement.” The way that the Afghans are depicted in the film alongside Rambo makes the audience sympathize with them. The little boy also looks up to Rambo. He looks up to him a masculine father-figure. Using th...
It is often said that history is written by the victor, and in the race to industrialization of the past two centuries, Western Europe and the United States have emerged as the victors. This enabled them to write a history in which their rise to power was preordained and inevitable and in which Eastern cultures are viewed as backward and intolerant. These Eurocentric histories have so fully permeated the global psyche that the stereotypes they have perpetuated inform our cultural interactions to this day. However, an unbiased look at the premodern history of Asia and the Middle East reveals the inaccuracy of the Eurocentric paradigm. Contrary to the Eurocentric view, there is nothing inherently intolerant about Islam or Middle Eastern and East Asian culture. In fact, many of the societies that have existed in the East have been extraordinarily tolerant and heterogeneous.
The Middle East has since time immemorial been on the global scope because of its explosive disposition. The Arab Israeli conflict has not been an exception as it has stood out to be one of the major endless conflicts not only in the region but also in the world. Its impact continues to be felt all over the world while a satisfying solution still remains intangible. A lot has also been said and written on the conflict, both factual and fallacious with some allegations being obviously evocative. All these allegations offer an array of disparate views on the conflict. This essay presents an overview of some of the major literature on the controversial conflict by offering precise and clear insights into the cause, nature, evolution and future of the Israel Arab conflict.
Oxtoby, Willard G. World Religions: Eastern Traditions. Oxford University Press; 4 edition. March 11, 2014
On the streets of Jerusalem, in the rubble of Ramallah, in synagogues, in mosques, in the hearts and minds of millions in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and the remainder of Israel, Israelis and Palestinians are locked in a clash of civilizations. In his masterful work, The Clash of Civilizations, Samuel L. Huntington outlines a theory which approaches international politics on the scale of civilizations. However, he circumvents discussion about Israel. Huntington cautiously describes Israel as a “non-Western” (Huntington 90) country, but identifies the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as one along a fault line between civilizations (267). Though he chooses to avoid the issue, Huntington’s theory provides a groundwork for analyzing the conflict in Israel in terms of a clash of civilizations between Judaism and Islam. This is a dangerous and provocative idea. But if we dare examine its implications and explore its insights, we risk a more complete understanding of the conflict which has plagued relations between Palestinians and Israelis in particular, Muslim countries and Israel in general, for over fifty years.
Orientalism, which became famous as a term after Edward Said’s book written in 1978, explains a power relation between the Orient and the Occident inspiring from the Foucault’s The Archeology of Knowledge and
In this essay I will discuss the many aspects and ideals of Asian Religions along with their impact and the role they play within the United States. I had a few questions that I had to try and find answers for, in order to complete the connection of Asian Religions to the United States. Why are some Americans and westerners finding Asian Religions as well as Asian thought and philosophy to be more gratifying than traditional western religions and philosophy? How are Asian Religions perceived and practiced here in the United States as opposed to its place of origination? Finally, is there further growth of the Asian Religions as well as philosophy still possible here in the United States and the west? All of the answers to these questions will try and explain the place Asian Religions have here in the United States.
Paul J. Griffiths is Associate Professor in the Divinity School and in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations at the University of Chicago.
Joyce, James. "Araby." 1914. Literature and Ourselves. Henderson, Gloria, ed. Boston, Longman Press. 2009. 984-988.
Gerner, Deborah J., and Philip A. Schrodt. "Middle Eastern Politics." Understanding the contemporary Middle East. 3rd ed. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2008. 85 -136. Print.
Koller, John M. Asian Philosophies. Ed. Craig Campanella. Edition ed. Vol. Sixth. N.p.: Pearson, 2011. Print.
Cromer believes that the Orient would be nothing without Western Civilization. He embodies everything Said means by the term Orientalism including having a superiority complex and over generalizing a large group of people into one category. Cromer clearly is the epitome of what it is to be an Orientalist since he obviously agrees with what Said means by Orientalism.
Lewis, Todd, and Ted Bicknell. "The Asian Soul of Transcendentalism." Education About Asia Oct. 2011: 12-17. Association for Asian Studies. Association for Asian Studies, Inc., Oct. 2011. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. .
Edward Said “States” refutes the view Western journalists, writers, and scholars have created in order to represent Eastern cultures as mysterious, dangerous, unchanging, and inferior. According to Said, who was born in Jerusalem at that time Palestine, the way westerners represent eastern people impacts the way they interact with the global community. All of this adds to, Palestinians having to endure unfair challenges such as eviction, misrepresentation, and marginalization that have forced them to spread allover the world. By narrating the story of his country Palestine, and his fellow countrymen from their own perspective Said is able to humanize Palestinians to the reader. “States” makes the reader feel the importance of having a homeland, and how detrimental having a place to call home is when trying to maintain one’s culture. Which highlights the major trait of the Palestinian culture: survival. Throughout “States”, Said presents the self-preservation struggles Palestinians are doomed to face due to eviction, and marginalization. “Just as we once were taken from one habitat to a new one we can be moved again” (Said 543).
For nearly half a century Arafat was the symbol of Palestinian nationalism. Though he was not a military man, he was rarely seen out of his uniform in an effort to project strength and his commitment to armed struggle. He wore his kaffiyeh in a unique fashion, draped over his shoulder in the shape of Palestine, that is, all of historic Palestine, including Israel. The high-profile terrorist attacks he directed helped gain international attention and sympathy for the Palestinian cause, but, ultimately, his unwillingness to make the psychological leap from terrorist mastermind to statesman prevented him from achieving independence for the Palestinian people, and brought them decades of suffering that could have been avoided had he abandoned his revolutionary zeal for liberating Palestine and agreed to live in peace with Israel.