Revisiting Said’s ‘Orientalism’ in today’s Middle East
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First articulated in his 1978 book “Orientalism,” philosopher and academic Edward Said critiqued how the West historically portrayed and conceptualized the “Orient” — a term often used to refer to the Middle East, Asia and North Africa. Said argued that these portrayals were not just innocent or neutral descriptions but were deeply intertwined with colonial power dynamics. He suggested that the West constructed the Orient as the “Other” — exotic, backward, uncivilized — and in need of Western intervention, which helped justify imperial domination and exploitation.
In his book, Said highlighted how the West (the “Occident”) constructed an image of itself as rational, progressive and superior, in contrast to an irrational, regressive and inferior Orient. He surmised the discourse as a way of talking, thinking and representing that creates and enforces power relations. According to him, Western scholars, artists and writers often depicted the Orient in ways that reinforced Western superiority, which influenced policy and justified colonial rule. The Orient was arguably stereotyped in literature, art and the media, leading to an oversimplified, monolithic view of a diverse region. These stereotypes have persisted over the passage of time, influencing modern perceptions and policies.
A look at the contemporary Western media suggests Said’s theory remains relevant to the Middle East’s portrayal today. The region is often depicted through a lens of conflict, terrorism and religious extremism, overshadowing its diversity, culture and progress. This skewed representation can influence public opinion and foreign policy. Orientalist attitudes in Western foreign policy toward the Middle East can still be seen. The idea of the region as a perpetual “problem” that needs Western intervention continues to shape military and diplomatic strategies. Persistent Orientalist stereotypes can lead to misunderstandings and miscommunications between the West and the Middle East.
Persistent Orientalist stereotypes can lead to misunderstandings and miscommunications between the West and the Middle East
Ehtesham Shahid
Even at an intellectual level, while there has been significant pushback against Orientalist perspectives, they still inform some aspects of academic and popular discourse. Said’s seminal work has encouraged scholars to critically examine their own biases and the historical context of their studies. However, challenges remain in thoroughly deconstructing these entrenched views. Power dynamics and stereotypes have shaped Said’s theory, notwithstanding the perceptions of the Middle East, and continue to influence how the region is viewed and treated today.
The notion of a “clash of civilizations,” popularized by political theorist Samuel Huntington, can be seen as a modern extension of Orientalist thought. This idea suggests an inherent and persistent cultural conflict between the “Western” and “Islamic” worlds, reinforcing a binary opposition Said critiqued. Such a perspective furthers cultural isolationism and hinders genuine West-Middle East understanding and cooperation.
Theorists argue that the rise of Islamophobia in the West is partly rooted in Orientalist stereotypes that depict Islam as inherently violent and incompatible with modernity. This feeds into discriminatory practices and policies against Muslims in the Middle East and within Western countries, perpetuating a cycle of prejudice and alienation. Some scholars argue that a form of “neo-Orientalism” has emerged in the post-9/11 world, where the focus has shifted to issues like terrorism and extremism. This new wave of Orientalism still frames the Middle East in terms of threat and backwardness, but with a modern twist that aligns with current geopolitical concerns.
Such a perspective furthers cultural isolationism and hinders genuine West-Middle East understanding and cooperation
Ehtesham Shahid
At the risk of sounding speculative, one can argue that much of the Western prism on issues — especially conflicts — in the Middle East continues to be guided by Orientalism. For instance, one explanation for the persistent, overwhelming Western support for Israel could perhaps be the perception that Arabs are inheritors of Orientalism and Israelis are not entirely so, even though Said delineated the Orientalism associated with the US compared to other Western powers.
In his introduction to “Orientalism,” he wrote: “Americans will not feel quite the same about the Orient, which for them is much more likely to be associated very differently with the Far East (China and Japan, mainly) … The Orient is not only adjacent to Europe; it is also the place of Europe’s greatest and richest and oldest colonies, the source of its civilizations and languages, its cultural contestant, and one of its deepest and most recurring images of the Other.”
Said’s most poignant insight comes in his argument related to Orientalism’s failure, which he labels “a human as much as an intellectual one.” In other words, taking up a position of irreducible opposition to a region it considered alien to its own was purely dishonest. According to him, Orientalism not only failed to identify with human experience, but also failed to see it as human experience.
This failure continues to remain evident even today. To state more directly, traces of Orientalism continue to surface in the Middle East, wherever remnants of colonialism persist. As we reflect on Orientalism’s contemporary legacy, Said’s words resonate as a fitting conclusion: “If the knowledge of Orientalism has any meaning, it is in being a reminder of the seductive degradation of knowledge, of any knowledge, anywhere, at any time. Now, perhaps more than before.”
- Ehtesham Shahid is an editor and researcher based in the UAE. X: @e2sham
