(1978) - Orientalism – Edward W. Said
In Orientalism, Edward W. Said critically examined the Western perception of the "Orient", arguing that it was constructed as a counterpoint to the West and used as a means to assert Western dominance. Said contended that Orientalism was not merely an academic discipline but a pervasive framework that shaped Western understanding of Eastern societies, often portraying them as exotic, backward, and static. This binary opposition reinforced colonial power structures, justifying imperialism and exploitation. He emphasized that Orientalism was a tool for controlling the East, with long-lasting effects on both the representation of the Orient and the identities of those within it.
I consider Orientalism's failure to have been a human as much as an intellectual one; for in having to take up a position of irreducible opposition to a region of the world it considered alien to its own, Orientalism failed to identify with human experience, failed also to see it as human experience.